ARBITRTUMHUMANUM:LIBERUMVELLIBERANDUM? S'TUDY OF AN HISTORICAL'THEOLOGICAL OF THE WILL JOHN CALVIN'S UOTTNTNE
by
Jason P. Van Vliet
A thesis submitted to Divinity College the Faculty of McMaster "i" of the requirements '^'r5ri-tt.o""i"f"f"lfillment o"*ree of Master of Theology
McMaster DivinitY College' Hamilton, Ontario 2005 MCMASTER TINIVERSITY MASTER OF THEOLOGY Hamilton, Ontario
of rrrlE: tfill'.1il,i11il:,#rilil".1,"'"1il"s1#,, Doctrine the Will
AUTHOR: Jason PhiliP Van Vliet SUPERVISOR: Dr' James R' PaYton Jr'
NUMBER OF PAGES: 146 MCMASTER DIVINITY COLLEGE
Upontherecommendationofanoralexaminationcommitteeandvoteofthefaculty,this thesis-project bY
Jason Van Vliet
isherebyacceptedinpartialfulfilmentoftherequirementsforthedegreeof
Master of TheologY
External Reader
Date: March 8,2005
lll To my Parents
lv Study of John Calvin's Arbitrium Humanum: Liberum vel Liberandum? An Historical-Theological Doctrine of the Will
Master of TheologY, 2005
Jason P. Van Vliet
McMaster Divinity College Abstract
into sin left the human John Calvin, the sixteenth-century reformer, taught that the fall
by Jesus Christ' will bound in a miserable slavery to depravit], unless it is liberated of the will as it Recently, Dewey J. Hoitenga Jr. has argued that Calvin retains so little
responsibility' was created that he cannot adequately account for humanity's moral reformer develops However, a careful examination of Calvin's writings reveals that this
Hoitenga would lead one an understanding of the human will which is more nuanced than
that is free to believe. Like his mentor, Augustine, Calvin distinguishes between a will
good or evil' In his from external coercion and a will that is equally free to choose either
the former debate with the Roman Catholic theologian, Albert Pighius, Calvin upholds voices his while rejecting the latter. Furthermore, in this same debate, Geneva's reformer
matters as it is agreement with the libertqs in externis - the liberty of the will in earthly - avoids the kind expressed, for instance, in the Augsburg Confession Calvin also ardently
of deterministic fatalism which some radical reformers, particularly the Libertines, him from adopted. At the same time, none of these distinctions and qualifications detract
to take his fundamental conviction that the fallen human will, of itself, cannot even begin
the the first steps towards salvation. Redemption is not a co-operative venture between of God's will of God and the will of human beings. Rather, it includes a sovereign work it grace upon the human will. Hoitenga's critique raises important questions; however, in which Calvin fails to pay sufficient attention to the historical and polemical context
it becomes clear that develops his doctrine of the will. when that context is investigated,
A depraved will Calvin teaches the depravity, not the destruction, of the human witl'
actions it initiates' cannot save itself, but it remains morally responsible for the
V1 Acknowledgments
me in various During the research and writing of this thesis various people have assisted
Gootjes and Dr' ways. In particular I would like to acknowledge the following: Dr' N'H'
Reformed churches c. van Dam, professors at the Theological college of the canadian my Master of in Hamilton, Ontario, who encouraged me to pursue further studies after institution' Divinity degree; Miss M. VanderVelde, the librarian of the aforementioned material; the who was always willing to help me locate the necessary bibliographic
me with a summef Vineyard Canadian Reformed Church at Lincoln, which provided
J' R' Palton Jr" study leave during which I could focus on writing this thesis; and Dr' into its final under whose tutelage this research was cultivated from initial curiosities which the reader form. None of the above is in any way responsible for the shortcomings
may as yet encounter in this work.
and our Special mention and sincere gratitude are also due to my wife' Janet,
to help me see children, whose love, laughter, support and understanding have done much
is reserved this project through to completion. The final word of thankfulness, though'
guidance none of for the Lono himself, for without his refreshing grace and providential
this would have been Possible.
vll Table of Gontents
Abstract """""""""' v Acknowledgments...... """"""' vii Introduction...... """""""" I chapter 1. Hoitenga's critique of calvin's Doctrine of the wiII...... """"" 6
7 The First Inconsistency: Vacillation between Intellectualism and Voluntarism """"""
11 The Second Inconsistency: Devastation of Human Choice due to Evil Inclinations "'
15 Chapter 2. Calvin's Doctrine of the Will in the Institutes """""""' """""""'
16 The Relationship between the Intellect and the Will""""" """
The State of IntegritY """'16
The State of Corruption..'...... """"18
The Condition of the Will after the Fall..... """"""'22
Summary & Evaluation...... """""'26
Chapter 3. Augustine on the Freedom of the WiII.."""" """""""29
A Personal and Theological Pilgrimage """"""""' 31
An Anti-Manichaean Writing: The Problem of Free Choice """"""""""' 32
Book 1...... """""""33
Book 2...... """""""'34
Book 3...... """""""'35
a- Anti-Pelagian Writings on the Will.....'.... """"""" ) t
a- t On Nature and Grace. """r
On Grace and Free Witt ..'...... ' """"'40
vllt 41 Other Important Documents on the Will .'...."" """
Enchiridion ...... """'41 4? Retractions
45 Summary & Evaluation...... """""'
Augustine's Contribution to the Doctrine of the Will """"" """""""""'45
Augustine, Calvin and Hoitenga...... '...... """"""47
49 Chapter 4. Calvin's Debate with Albert Pighius""" """"""""""'
A Brief Biography of Albert Pighius """"""""""" 52
54 A Survey of the Debate..'... """""""""'
The Underlying Question of Authority...... """"54
The Human Will: Extinct or Extant? """""""""'56
Libertas in Externis """""57
The Human will: Free, Bound, self-determined or coerced? ...... 58
Original Sin...... """""59
The Grace of God: Sovereign and Efficacious or Co-operative and Contingent?.."61
Seeking the Support ofthe Fathers """""""""""63
An Evaluation of the Debate...... """""' 67
The Underlying Question of Authority...... """"67
The Human Will: Extinct or Extant?...... '.'.. ""'69
Libertas in Externis """""70
The Human Will: Free, Bound, Self-determined or coerced? ...... '.....71
Original Sin...... """""72
The Grace of God: Sovereign and Efficacious or Co-operative and Contingent? .-..72
1X
A Restatement of John Calvin's Doctrine of the WiII...... 116
Appendix 1. Pocquet's Letter to His Disciples ...... 122
Appendix 2. Libertas in Externis ...... 126
Bibliography ...... 132
XI INTRODUCTION
Do human beings have a free will? If so, how can God still be in sovereign control over everything, including the choices they make? If not, how can God hold them morally responsible for their decisions and subsequent actions? Throughout the ages theologians and philosophers alike have pondered these intriguing and important questions.
In this regard the sixteenth century was no exception. In June of 1519 Johann von
Eck and Andreas Karlstadt took up these questions at a public disputation in Leipzig.r
Eck affirmed the free choice of fallen human beings; Karlstadt denied it. Then, from
1524 to 1527 Desiderius Erasmus and Martin Luther engaged in a spirited, literary duel over this doctrine.2 This time Erasmus was the one who argued in favour of free choice, while Luther refuted it. Finally, to cite but one more instance, during the 1540s John
Calvin and Albert Pighius exchanged books on this matter, each categorically disagreeing with the other.3 These examples demonstrate that the freedom of the will was a pressing issue during the time of the Reformation.
In the midst of this spirited, theological debate, what did John Calvin teach? From the outset, it would seem manifestly clear that he denies the freedom of the fallen will. After all, this theologian of Geneva is widely recognized for his conviction that each person's
' Ronald J. Sider, Andreas Bodensteinvon Karlstadt: The Development of His Thought (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1974), 71-81 . t ln 1524 Erasmus wrote his Diatribe seu collatio de libero arbitrio. Luther responded a year later with his De Servo Arbitrio. Gordon Rupp has provided an English translation of both (Luther and Erasmus: Free Will and Salvation London: SCM Press, 1969). Next, in 1526 and 1527 Erasmus answered Luther with two more lengthy volumes, the Hyperasplstes. Luther did not reply to the Hyperaspistes. 3 Further information about this debate is included in chapter 4 of this study. 2 eternal destiny is determined by divine election and not by human choice. Furthermore, in his Institutes of the Christian Religion, Calvin has a chapter entitled, "Man Has Now
Been Deprived of Freedom of Choice and Bound Over to Miserable Servitude."a Thus, the case appears to be firmly closed. Do sinful human beings have a free will? John
Calvin would answer that question with a resounding'No!"
Or would he? In recent years some Calvin scholars have revisited this question and put forth the surprising suggestion that, in his own way, John Calvin actually believed in the freedom of the human will. In 1981 A.N.S. Lane penned an article entitled, "Did
Calvin Believe in Freewill?"s Lane convincingly demonstrates that Calvin's teaching on the human will is far more nuanced than many realize. For instance, at one point in the
Institutes Calvin even says, "If anyone, then, can use this word [freewill] without understanding it in a bad sense, I shall not trouble him on this account."u Othe. scholars have followed Anthonv Lane's lead and come to similar conclusions. For instance, John
P. Leith comments that, according to Calvin, "the fall did not destroy the will and hence rts voluntary character. . .. The will is free in the sense that the origin of its actions is in itself."7 Along the same lines, in a study comparing Calvin of Geneva and Bernard of
Clairvaux, Vincent Brtimmer observes, "Although we cannot deny that [Calvin] sometimes defends an uncompromisingly deterministic doctrine of divine predestination,
4 This heading can be found in Book Two, Chapter 2 of John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1960). All further citations of the Institutes will be from this edition and translation. t A.N.S. Lane, "Did Calvin Believe in Freewill?" Vox Evangelica 12 (1981):72-90. u Calvin, Institutes 2.2.8. See also Lane, "Calvin," 79. t John H. Leith, "The Doctrine of the Will inthe Institutes of the Christian Religion," in Reformatio Perennis: Essays on Calvin and the Reformation in Honour of Ford Lewis Battles, ed. B.A. Gerrish and Robert Benedetto (Pittsburg: Pickwick Press, l98l),54. J
at other times he seems to adopt a less negative attitude toward the role of human free
choice than this doctrine would lead one to expect."8
Yet how do we explain this apparent oscillation in Calvin's thinking as, on the one
hand, he defends an uncompromising divine sovereignty while, on the other, he also
allows for a certain freedom of the human will, so long as that freedom is properly
defined? Mary Potter Engel has proposed that the oscillation can be explained by her
perspectival approach to Calvin's anthropology. She maintains that in the Institutes
Calvin at times speaks from the absolute, divine perspective; however, at other times he
speaks from the more relative, human perspective.e Following through with Engel's thesis, we would say that whenever Calvin defends an uncompromisingly strong view of
God's sovereignty, then he is speaking from that absolute, divine perspective. However, whenever he allows for a properly defined notion of human freewill, then Calvin is looking at things from a relative, human perspective. Moreover, says Engel, Calvin is not contradicting himself; indeed the differences are not even paradoxical. According to her, it is simply a matter of which angle or perspective Calvin is using at any given moment to approach his topic.ro
Unlike Mary Potter Engel, though, Dewey J. Hoitenga Jr. is not so optimistic about
John Calvin's success in setting forth a coherent teaching on the will. In hisbook, John
Calvin and the Will: A Critique and Corrective,Hoitenga argues that Calvin is repeatedly inconsistent in what he says about the human will. Now, if it were only a matter of some minor inconsistencies, one might question how much effort should be expended in
o Vincent Briimmer, "Calvin, Bernard and the Freedom of the Will," Religious Studies 30 (1994): 437. n Mury Potter Engel, John Calvin's Perspectival Anthropologt (Atlanta: Scholar's press, 1988), 2.
'o Engel, Perspectival Anthropologt, 140-44. coffecting those incongruities. After all, which mortal can claim perfect consistency in
all his promulgations? Yet for Hoitenga the stakes are higher than that. He argues the
followins:
On Calvin's view, the fall not only corrupts the will, but nearly destroys it. And the result? The result is that Calvin retains in the fallen state so little of the will as it was created that he cannot explain adequately the moral character of human action in that state. when it still makes choices between good and evil.ll
Moreover, Hoitenga maintains that if only Calvin had been more like Augustine in his treatment of the will, then he could have avoided some of the pitfalls into which he allegedly fell. r2
If Hoitenga's contentions are correct, then Calvin's writings are defective not only in their anthropology but also in their theology. Concerning anthropology, if Hoitenga is correct, then Calvin's doctrine of the will essentially turns fallen humanity into a group of amoral automatons. Furthermore, those who are devoid of moral character can hardly be held responsible for their evil actions. This, in turn, has consequences for the doctrine of
God, that is, theology in the strict sense of the word. For if Calvin's doctrine of the will does indeed nullify human responsibility for sin, then this also implies that God now is the Author of evil. These implications of Hoitenga's thesis make it worthwhile to test his conclusions against the contents of Calvin's own writings, particularly since Calvin himself avers that even after the fall into sin human beings are "endowed also with the will in order to choose and to desire.,,l3
' Dewey J. Hoitenga Jr., John Calvin * .' and the Witt; A Critique and Coruective (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1997).69-70.
'' Hoitenga, John Calvin and the Witt, l0g-10g. This quotation .'t comes from Calvin's "Treatise Against the Libertines" as translated in Allen verhey, "calvin's Treatise 'Against the Libertine s' ," Calvin Thiological Journql 15 ( l9g0): 201. 5
In what follows, first of all, the central arguments of Hoitenga's book will be
summarized and then provisionally tested by looking at Calvin's Institutes. Next, since
Hoitenga finds that Calvin is insufficiently Augustinian conceming the human will, it
will be necessary to determine just how much difference there really is between the
reformer of Geneva and the bishop of Hippo on this point. That, in tum, will open the
door to exploring other tracts and treatises which have come from Calvin's pen and
which expound his view of the human will in even more detail than the Institutes. In this
exploration of the primary sources, due attention will be given to the historical context of these writings. Calvin's era was marked by fiery polemics between Protestants and papists, on the one hand, as well as between magisterial and radical reformers, on the other. In the red-hot forge of these debates, using tools inherited from the Church
Fathers, the blacksmith of the Reformed church shaped his doctrine of the human will upon the anvil of Scripture. Unless we understand this context, we will not correctly understand Calvin. CHAPTER ONE
HOITENGA'S GRITIQUE OF CALVIN'S DOCTRINE OF THE WILL
Dewey J. Hoitenga Jr. recently retired from teaching philosophy at the Grand Valley
State University in Michigan, USA. Along with other philosophers such as Alvin
Plantinga and Nicholas Wolterstorff, Hoitenga has been keen to develop a robust,
Reformed epistemology. His study on John Calvin's doctrine of the will must be seen within the context of this epistemological enterprise, for Hoitenga mentions it in both the introduction and the epilogue of his book, John Calvin and the Will: A Critisue and
Corrective.l
Reason and will, ratio et voluntas, are never far apartin the human soul. In order to develop a Reformed epistemology Hoitenga wants to come to a Reformed understanding of the human will. Moreover, when it comes to Reformed theology, where better to start than with John Calvin himselfl Thus it is that Hoitenga delves into the Institutes in order to leam what the father of Reformed theology has to say on the matter.
As becomes apparent in his book, though, the more he delves, the more disappointed he becomes. He is disappointed because he discovers what he perceives to be two main inconsistencies in Calvin's thinking. The first inconsistency pertains to the relationship between the intellect and the will within the human soul. The second inconsistencv
' Hoitenga, John Calvin and the Witt,15-16.l2g_32. actually turns out to be more than an inconsistency. According to Hoitenga, Calvin
makes a serious error in denigrating the human will post lapsum to such an extent that he
cannot account for the moral responsibility of human beings. Each of these alleged
inconsistencies will be examined separately.
The First Inconsistency:
vacillation between Intellectualism and voluntarism
"The inconsistency in Calvin's account of the human will as God created it is this: he claims that the intellect governs the will and yet clearly implies that it does not."2 This is how Hoitenga himself summarizes the first inconsistency that he finds within John
Calvin's teaching on the will. Later, he expands on this by stating that Calvin has an intellectualist view of mankind at creation, but then flips over to a voluntarist view of mankind after the Fall into sin.3
In order to clarify his position Hoitenga provides his readers with a brief historical overview of the intellectualist and voluntarist positions. A philosopher like Plato adhered to a pure version of intellectualism. As Hoitenga explains, "On this version, freedom of the will does turn out to be something of an illusion.... Wherever we fail to do good, it will never be due to a failure of will, either in inclination or choice, but to ignorance, a failure of the intellect; for it is by knowledge alone that the will is led to make its choice."4 In short, Platonic intellectualism teaches that reason so dominates the human soul that the will becomes nothing more than an empty title with little to no substance or
' Hoitenga, John Calvin and the Wilt,23. t Hoitenga, John Calvin and the Witt,64-65. o Hoitenga, John Calvin and the Witt,2g-2g. 8
position influence of its own. Aristotle and, to a greater extent, Aquinas modified Plato's
went so and attributed more significance to the role of the will in human action' Aquinas
This Hoitenga calls far as to conceive of the will "as a power distinct from the intellect."s
"modifi ed intellectualism."
In parallel contrast to the two versions of intellectualism' there are also two voluntarist positions. Schoolmen such as Duns Scotus argued for a modified, or moderate, view of voluntarism. Voluntarists distinguish themselves from intellectualists
than being in that they assert that the will is free to act and to influenc e on its own rathet
subservient to the governing powers of the intellect.6 Yet how far does the will's of freedom go? Does the intellect, then, no longer have any influence on the inclinations
that a the will? Modified voluntarists would not go that far. Hoitenga maintains, though, in purer version of voluntarism, such as Ren6 Descartes promoted, would certainly lean
that direction.T
With this historical overview of the nomenclature in mind, Hoitenga comes to his first view main difficulty with Calvin's teaching - namely, that he espouses an intellectualist
of human beings at creation but then changes to a voluntarist view after the fall into sin'
Calvin's intellectualism is plainly evident in the following passages from the first book of
the Institutes:
Let the office, moreover, of understanding be to distinguish between objects, as each seems worthy of approval or disapproval; while that of the
t Hoitenga, John Calvin and the Will,29' u Hoitenga, John Calvin and the Will,34-35 - t father of Hoitenga uses the work of Anthony Kenny to conclude that Descartes "may be as much the pure voluntarism, represented in the last two centuries by such otherwise diverse thinkers as Kierkegaard, and Schopenhauer, William James, and Jean-Paul Sartre, as he is of the rationalism of the seventeenth- eighteenth-century Enlightenment thinkers who followed him" (pg. 44). According to Hoitenga, then, Descartes was simultaneously positing cogito ergo sum andvolo ergo sum. will, to choose and follow what the understanding pronounces good, but to reject and flee what it disapproves.... Let it be enough for us that the understanding is, as it were, the leader and governor of the soul; and that the will is always mindful of the bidding of the understanding, and in its own desires awaits the judgment of the understanding.
Man in his first condition excelled in these pre-eminent endowments, so that his reason, understanding, prudence, and judgment not only sufficed for the direction of his earthly life, but by them men mounted up even to God and eternal bliss. Then was choice added, to direct the appetites and control all the organic motions, and thus make the will completely amenable to the guidance of reason.8
Clearly, Calvin leans heavily in the direction of intellectualism when he maintains that man's understanding is "the leader and governor of the soul."
Hoitenga goes on to affirm, though, that even within the section of the Institues conceming man's created state, Calvin begins to speak the language of voluntarism. He finds Calvin's voluntaristic tendency in the following passage:
Adam could have stood if he wished, seeing that he fell solely by his own will. But it was because his will was capable of being bent to one side or another, and was not given the constancy to persevere, that he fell so easily. Yet his choice was free, and not that alone, but the highest rectitude was in his mind and will, and all the organic parts were rightly composed to obedience, until in destroying himself he corrupted his own blessings.'
Then Hoitenga adds, "Here Calvin clearly undermines the intellectualist account he has just given, in the very same section. For he attributes the fall not to a failure of the intellect, but to the free choice of the will."l0 Apparently, the reason for this vacillation between intellectualism and voluntarism is that Calvin wants to advocate a voluntaristic faith." That is to say, Calvin does not promote a faith of merely intellectual assent:
tCafuin, Institutes l.15.7and 1.15.8.Cf. Hoitenga, JohnCalvinandtheWitl,46-47. n Calvin, Institutes 1.15.8; cf. Hoitenga, John Cqlvin and the Will, 48. to Hoitenga, John Calvin ancl the Wilt,48. " Hoitenga, John Calvin and the Will,5l-60. 10
.,Simply agree with whatever the church teaches, and you will be saved." According to his reformational thinking, such a merely intellectual faith is cut from a cloth with too many papist colours. On the contrary, Calvin emphasizes that saving faith is heartfelt faith. Moreover, since the will belongs to the heart, Hoitenga argues that Calvin adheres to a voluntaristic view of faith, or to use Richard Muller's apt phrase, "soteriological voluntarism."l2
Hoitenga certainly concurs with Calvin that true faith is strongly voluntaristic.
However, he is dismayed that Calvin is not more consistent. If a theologian is a
voluntarist when it comes to the fall and salvation by faith, then that theologian also
ought to be a voluntarist about the created state. This is where Calvin errs, according to
Hoitenga. In fact, he is even so bold as to revamp part of the Institutes, amending what
he calls the "clearly offending intellectualist passages." Below is a sample portion of
Hoitenga' s emendation:
As God created us, the office of reason is to distinguish between ends or objects, whether they are good or evil, as well as between the acts required to attain them, whether they are morally permitted or forbidden; and if they are permitted, how effective they are for the attainment. Reason has no power to move us to act, for that is the function of the will; but the will depends upon the reason as the leader and govemor of the soul to propose a course of action to it. In moving us to act, the will by its created nature is inclined to goodness. However, the will is also created with an essential freedom, in virtue of which it can refuse to do the first bidding of reason, in favour of pursuing an inferior good the reason might propose. But reason proposes such inferior objects or ends, even perhaps immoral means, only when, in a given situation, the will itself, as it is free and able to do, turns the attention of the intellect away from its better knowledge to altemative, "vicious" judgments it is capable of making about ends or
* in the '2 Richard A. Muller, Fides and Cognitio in Relation to the Problem of Intellect and Will Theology of John Calvin," Calvin Theological Journal25 (1990): 215. t1
means or both. It will do this whenever it is inclined to an inferior good even in the presence of a superior good.13 of this Whether or not Hoitenga's corrective is necessary remains to be seen in the course study.
The Second InconsistencY:
Devastation of Human choice due to Evil Inclinations
the The second flaw which Hoitenga finds in Calvin's doctrine of the human will is
following:
Like his medieval predecessors, Calvin afhrms that the will was created with two main components, inclination and choice. The second inconsistency in Calvin's account of the will is that he denies, for the most part, that the will as so created persists into the fallen state. "For the most pdft,u I say; for aS we shall see, of these two components, Calvin retains inclination; but it is no longer an inclination to goodness, only to evil. This reduced concept of the will, I argue, leaves Calvin with a will that is even less than a shadow of its created nature. On Calvin's view, the fall not only corrupts the will, but nearly destroys it. And the result? The result is that Citvin retains in the fallen state so little of the will as it was created that he cannot explain adequately the moral character of human action in that state, wherit still -uk". choices between good and evil.ra
In order to substantiate his case, Hoitenga points to the second book of the Institutes in
which Calvin deals at length with the condition of the human will after the fall into sin.
Calvin writes, "similarly, the will, because it is inseparable from man's nature, did not
perish, but was so bound to wicked desires that it cannot strive for what is right'"t5 It is
particularly to the last phrase of this quotation that Hoitenga objects. Although he
't Hoitenga, John Calvin and the Wilt,65-66. Compare Hoitenga's emendation with Calvin's original in the Institutes | .15.7 and I . 15.8, as quoted above on pp' 8f.
'o Hoitenga, John Calvin and the Will,69-70. tt Calvin. Institutes 2.2.12. t2 believes that the inclination of the will has been comrpted by the fall, Hoitenga questions whether the human will has lost all ability even to strive for what is right. Moreover, he disapproves of the titles that Calvin has given to chapters two and three of his second book - namely, "Man Has Now Been Deprived of Freedom of Choice and Bound over to
Miserable Servitude" and "Only Damnable Things Come Forth from Man's Corrupt
Nature."l6 To Hoitenga's way of thinking, headings like those disparage human choice
to the point where the will effectively ceases to be a will anymore. In short, Calvin turns
the wilfully depraved human into a will-deprived automaton.
Of course, Hoitenga realizes that Calvin is constantly emphasizing the sovereignty of
God's grace and the bondage of the human will in order to refute the synergism of the
papists.rT He will even allow Calvin a good measure of rhetorical leeway in defending
the Reformed faith against Romanism. But Hoitenga draws a line in the theological sand
when, to his ears, Calvin starts to destroy the natural components of the will. He is
especially disturbed by various statements that Calvin makes in the Institutes 2.3.2. As
the theologian of Geneva is busy expounding the words of the apostle Paul in Romans 3,
he writes:
Now his [Paul's] intention in this passage is not simply to rebuke men that they may repent, but rather to teach them that they have all been overwhelmed by an unavoidable calamity from which only God's mercy can deliver them. Because this could not be proved unless it rested upon the ruin and destruction of our nature, he put forward these testimonies which prove our nature is utterly lost.
Hoitenga understands Calvin to be saying that the created faculties of human beings,
especially the faculty of the will, has been destroyed (i.e., obliterated) by the fall.
'o Hoitenga, John Calvin and the Will,74. 't Hoitenga, John Calvin and the Will, Sl-85. 13
Here is the inconsistency which Hoitenga laments. If, according to Calvin's own words, the power of choice has been destroyed by the fall, then how can Calvin, at the same time, maintain that the Lord is not unjust by holding human beings morally accountable for their actions? For Hoitenga it is either one or the other. Either the human will is not destroyed, and then people are morally accountable, or the human will is destroyed, and people are free from all responsibility. However, an utterly ruined human will and a morally responsible human race are logically incompatible.
Therefore, just as he did with the first inconsistency, Hoitenga proposes a correction.
This time he does not go so far as actually to emend the Institutes. Instead he petitions
Reformed theologians and philosophers to bring their view of the human will "more consistently into line with the Augustinian principle than Calvin has managed to do."l8
The church father Augustine was wont to say, "The natural gifts were corupted in man through sin, but his supernatural gifts were stripped from him."re Applying Augustine's principle to the human will, Hoitenga concludes that human beings retain a natural gift to freely choose between morally good and evil options, even after the fall into sin.
Although there are certainly many evil inclinations within it, the will retains a natural propensity toward good.2O For Hoitenga, this is the main burden of his grievances with
Calvin.2r He feels that whereas Calvin has well nigh destroyed the will after the fall,
Augustine manages to retain enough of it to account for moral responsibility. For this reason, Hoitenga advocates Augustine's approach and dismisses Calvin's explanation.
tt Hoitenga, John Calvin and the L\itl, 109; also see pp.70-74.
'n Cf. the Institutes 2.2.12 where Calvin also refers to this principle of Augustine.
'o Hoitenga, John Calvin and the Wilt, 120. '' Hoitenga mentions the "Augustinian principle" repeatedly. See pp. 70,74,84, 85, 100, 103, 105, 108-109. 1 11 -12. 1 18" 122-23. 126. 150. t4
At the same time Hoitenga is not suggesting that people can choose their own sah'ation. He wants to remain Reformed without welcoming synergism in through the back door.2t What it does mean, though, is that just as Calvin himself conceded that the fallen intellect was still capable of accomplishing much that is socially and culturally good,23 so now Hoitenga wants to maintain that also the fallen will is capable of desiring things that are socially and culturally laudable.'o Fo. instance, do altruism and philanthropy not give evidence that there is still some natural good left in the human will? This is the kind of query that causes Hoitenga to critique and correct Calvin's
doctrine of the will. Now it is time to tum the tables and ask: is Hoitenga correct in his
critique of Calvin? A provisional answer to that question can be found by examining
Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion.
t' Hoitenga, John Calvin and the l4/itl, 109. t' Calvin, Institutes 2.2.13-16.
'u Hoitenga, John Calvin and the lfiil, llg-20. CHAPTER TWO
CALVIN'S DOCTRINE OF THE WILL IN THE INSTITUTES
As noted in the previous chapter, Hoitenga studied John Calvin's doctrine of the will within the context of his desire to formulate a distinctly Reformed epistemology. This is not entirely inappropriate, since Calvin himself was keenly interested in the question of knowledge. In fact the Institutes begin with this very topic. The oft-quoted opening line of Calvin's magnum opus is: "Nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves."l
Yet however much Calvin and Hoitenga may share an epistemological interest, there remains a significant difference between their modi operandi. Hoitenga is a philosopher, and he approaches the doctrine of the human will in a philosophical manner. He is concerned about logical consistency;2 he is also particular about the precise arrangement of the soul's faculties.s Although Calvin is certainly well-read in philosophical writings, both of the ancient Greeks and of medieval schoolmen, his primary interest is theological, not philosophical. Having said that, though, it should immediately be added that the borderline between theology and philosophy is often less than distinct, and dialogue between the two disciplines can certainly be helpful. Nevertheless, a theologian and a
'Calvin, Institutes l.l .l . ' Hoitenga, John Calvin and the Wilt, 14. t Hoitenga, John Calvin and the Witl,24. 16 philosopher are not one and the same. The one loves sophia;the other studies Scriptura.
As a pastor and theologian, one of Calvin's primary goals with the Institute,r was to provide his readers with a summary of biblical doctrine so that they might read the
Scriptures themselves more profitably.a Moreover, as a Reformed pedagogue, Calvin regularly engaged in polemics against the papists on the one side and the radical reformers on the other. These pedagogical and polemical - rather than philosophical - concerns give colour and substance to Calvin's doctrine of the will. In this vein, John
Leith is certainly correct when he states that "theology is historical and is formulated in temrs of the issues, ethos, and the religious or spiritual forces of its time."s
The Relationship between the Intellect and the Will
The State of lntegrity
God created human beings, male and female, in his image and likeness (Gen. l:26-27).
This is one of the first revealed facts about the nature of human beings. The imago Dei rs also certainly one of the main doctrines upon which Calvin builds his anthropology in i.l5 of the Institutes. According to Calvin the proper seat of God's image is the human soul, and the soul can be divided into two faculties: the understanding and the will - or to put it in other terms, the mind and the heart.6 It is interesting that when Calvin relates the intellect and the will to the image of God, he treats both equally. He maintains that "the
" In the Preface to the 1559 edition of his Institutes Calvin writes, "Moreover, it has been my purpose in this labor to prepare and instruct candidates in sacred theology for the reading of the divine Word, in order that they may be able both to have easy access to it and to advance in it without stumblins." ' Leith, "The Doctrine of the will," 62. u Calvin, Institutes 1.15.3 and 1.15.6. t7 pdmary seat of the divine image is the mind and heart."t So far as the imago Dei is concemed, Calvin is neither an intellectualist nor a voluntarist.
As Calvin proceeds with his discussion of the created state, he speaks of the intellect as "the leader or govemor of the soul" and the will as the faculty that is "always mindful of the bidding of the understanding."t At first glance, this appears to be unqualified intellectualism. That is, to be sure, how Hoitenga reads Calvin. However, a careful, contextual reading of Calvin's statements reveals that there is more nuance to his position than first meets the eye. To start with, Calvin is not rigid about how the soul's faculties are divided. He knows, for instance, that some philosophers like to speak of an appetitive intellect while others refer to an intellectual appetite (or will). Concerning these different viewpoints Calvin says:
I shall not strongly oppose anyone who wants to classify the powers of the soul in some other way: to call one appetitive, which, enough though without reason, if directed elsewhere, yet obeys reason; to call the other intellective, which is through itself participant in reason.'
Philosophers and theologians alike tend to divide up the soul into distinct faculties. Such divisions make the soul easier to explain and discuss. However, in created reality, the human soul is far more complex and far less tidy than these distinctions might suggest.
Bearing this in mind, Calvin does not want to tie himself, or anyone else, too tightly to any one anatomical map of the soul. Does the intellect govern the soul entirely and exclusively? It cannot be denied that Calvin calls understanding "the governor of the soul." At the same time, though, he will not oppose anyone who wants to speak of an
" Calvin, Institutes 1.15.3. t Calvin, Institutes I .15.7.
" Calvin. Institutes 1.15.6. 18 intellective will which can even participate in reason. Upon closer inspection, then, it appears that Calvin is not such a strident intellectualist about human beings at creation.
Yet is Calvin's openness to speak of an "intellective will" yet another instance of ambiguity on Calvin's part? If the constancy of a logician's scalpel is required, then perhaps Calvin is being ambiguous here. However, realistically speaking, can anyone use a scalpel on a soul? Calvin, for one, wants to be cautious on this point. The faculties of the soul interrelate and interact in a manner that often confounds, or perhaps transcends, human logic. This also means that Calvin should not be tied down too tightly to a rigid schema of intellectualism as opposed to voluntarism. Hoitenga's approach falters in this regard. He wants to place Calvin neatly inside a set of nomenclature cubby-holes, stating that Calvin is an intellectualist concerning the created state but that he is a voluntarist concerning the fallen state. However, Calvin resists exclusive placement in either category. It might be said that he is predominantly intellectualist about human beings in their created integrity, but he is also certainly open to the influence of the will upon intellect.l0
The State of Corruption
This leads to the question of how Calvin viewed the relationship of the intellect and the wlll post lapsum. Hoitenga feels that at this point - the fall into sin - Calvin changes colours like a chameleon, from a hue of intellectualism to a shade of voluntarism. He bases his opinion on the following line in 1.15.8 of the Institutes: "Therefore Adam could have stood if he wished, seeing that he fell solely by his own will." Hoitenga reads
Calvin as saying that Adam fell solely by the wlll rather than by the intellecf. Yet a close
'u Calvin. Inst itutes, l.l5.7 . 19 reading of the Institutes indicates that this is not what Calvin is saying. Here is the context of the statement in question:
In this integrity man by free will had the power, if he so willed, to attain eternal life. Here it would be out of place to raise the question of God's secret predestination because our present subject is not what can happen or not, but what man's nature was like. Therefore Adam could have stood if he wished, seeing that he fell solely by his own will.rr
Thus, in this passage Calvin is not contrasting the will with the intellect, but rather the will of human beings with the will of God, or God's secret predestination. His point is that human beings may not turn around and point an accusing finger at God, blaming him for their fall into sin. They only have themselves to blame, and this is why Calvin says,
"he fell solely by his own wtll."t2
unfortunately, it would seem that this misreading of 1.15.8 gives Hoitenga a somewhat blurred perspective on Book Two of the Institutes. In the first part of his second book Calvin deals extensively with the effects of the fall on human nature.l3
Hoitenga is of the opinion that Calvin does not deal even-handedly with the two faculties of the soul after the fall. According to him, Calvin allows the intellect to come through the fall less scathed than the will. Here again Hoitenga wishes for more consistency on
Calvin's part.
Yet is Calvin really as inconsistent as Hoitenga suggests? In the first chapter of Book
Two, calvin sets forth his main point concerning the fall into sin:
For this reason, I have said that all parts of the soul were possessed by sin after Adam deserted the fountain of righteousness. For not only did a
" Calvin, Institutes I .15.8. '' Calvin, Institutes 1.15.8; emphasis mine. '' Calvin, Institutes 2.2.1-5. 20
lower appetite seduce him, but unspeakable impiety occupied the very citadel of his mind, and pride penetrated to the depths of his heart.ra
Here the intellect and the will - the mind and the heart - are equally involved in, and affected by, the fall. Consequently, as Calvin develops his main thought he elaborates on how the fall has comrpted the mind,r5 and thereafter how original sin has infected the will.r6 Actually, if anyone wishes to look at it statistically, Calvin devotes more time to explaining the depravity of the intellect (14 paragraphs) than the wantonness of the will
(2 paragraphs). In light of all this, Hoitenga should have been less hasty in charging the theologian of Geneva with inconsistencies. To repeat, Calvin's main point is that "the whole man" - including both mind and heart - "is of himself nothing but concupiscence."lT
In addition, the historical context in which Calvin wrote on human nature should be taken into consideration. Chronologically speaking, the reformers were preceded by the scholastics, and even though the reformers disagreed with the scholastics on numerous points, there were lines of continuity between them as well.l8 Calvin did not always have a lot of patience for the more speculative philosophical intricacies of the scholastics;le however, he was sufficiently well-versed in their writings to interact with their theories when necessary. Richard Muller, then, rightly considers Calvin's doctrine of the will
'o Calvin, Institutes 2.1 .9; emphasis mine. 't Calvin, Institutes 2.2.12-25.
'u Calvin, Institutes 2.2.26-27. 't Caluin, Institutes 2.1 .8. '* Willem J. van Asselt and Eef Dekker, Reformation and Scholasticism: An Ecumenical Enterprise (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2001), l l-14.
'n Witness, for instance, Calvin's comment in 1.15.6 onthe Institutes, "But I leave it to the philosophers to discuss these faculties in their subtle way. For the upbuilding of godliness a simple definition will be enough for us." 21
against the backdrop of scholastic theology. Interestingly, he notes that Thomas Aquinas tended to subsume the will into the intellect.20 In other words, the will becomes merely a subordinate function of the intellect. In this way Aquinas demonstrates his preference for intellectualism. By contrast, Duns Scotus elevated the status of the will within the human soul and gave it a distinct identity of its own.2t Thit illustrates Scotus' voluntaristic leanings. So, when Calvin is placed within his own historical context, it becomes evident that he certainly has voluntaristic elements in his doctrine of the w1ll.22 For right from the beginning, Calvin maintains - in agreement with the voluntarist, Duns Scotus, and contrq the intellectualist, Thomas Aquinas - that there are two distinct faculties in the soul, the understanding and the will.23 As we consider the historical context of Calvin's theological labours, we are reminded once again that we cannot categoize Calvin as either a voluntarist or an intellectualist. Such a rigid either/or classification simply does not fit his writings.
At the same time, this does not mean that there are no problems whatsoever with
Calvin's account of the human soul. As Hoitenga points out, Calvin plainly identifies the intellect as "the leader and governor of the soul."24 This designation derives from his somewhat uncritical adoption of Greek philosophical terminology - namely, that the understanding is rd r]yeprovtx6v of the soul.25 Yet is the understanding truly the leader of the soul? At all times? Are there not circumstances where certain desires of the will
'o Muf ler, "Ficles and, Cognitio,- 214. *Ficles '' Muller, and,Cognitio,- 214. t' Muller, "Fides and Cognitio,- 215.
" Calvin, Institutes I .l5 .7 .
'o Caluin, Institutes 1.15.7. " Calvin, Institutes 1.15.8. 22
can even skew people's thinking in the direction of fantasy rather than reality?
Furthermore, it would seem that, at times, both the intellect and the will are exerting such
equal influence on the human soul that to establish seniority and inferiority between the
two is difficult, if not impossible. Calvin endeavoured to base his theology squarely and
solely on the teachings of Scripture. For the most part, he was remarkably successful in
that endeavour. However, conceming the relationship of the intellect and the will, it is
true that Calvin allowed especially the terminology of Greek philosophers to exert too much influence on his theological formulations.26 Attention will now be given to
Hoitenga's second criticism - namely, that Calvin's doctrine of the will cannot account for moral responsibility.
The Condition of the Will after the Fall
Hoitenga acknowledges that Calvin still speaks of the existence of the will after the fall into sin. Howevet, his concern is that Calvin leaves so little of the will intact that, in effect, the will becomes extinctpost lapsum. He phrases his concern as follows:
This reduced concept of the will, I argue, leaves Calvin with a will that is even less than a shadow of its created nature. On Calvin's view, the fall not only corrupts the will, but nearly destroys it. And the result? The result is that Calvin retains in the fallen state so little of the will as it was created that he cannot explain adequately the moral character of human action in that state, when it still makes choices between sood and ev1l.27
_ 'u On this point it is interesting to note that Gen.6:5 speaks of the "inclination of the thoughts of his heart- . . ." Thus, in Scripture the will ("inclination") and the intellect ("thoughts") u." ,o ,"u-i"ssly united that there is little indication as to which may be the leader and which the follower. See also I Chron. 28:9. " Hoitenga, John Calvin and the Wilt,69-70. ZJ
How does this criticism square with Calvin's own writings? In the first place, Calvin
clearly maintains that the human will itself was not annihilated by the fall into sin. In the
Institutes 2.3.5 he writes:
For man, when he gave himself over to this necessity, was not deprived of will, but of soundness of will. Not inappropriately Bernard teaches that to will is in us all: but to will good is gain; to will evil, loss. Therefore simply to will is of man; to will ill, of a corrupt nature; to will well, of grace.
Thus, for Calvin, the will is still extant after the fall. The matter is not settled yet, though, because the key question is: does the will survive the fall in such a way that the moral responsibility of human beings can be accounted for?
Here we may return to the question raised by inter a/ios A.N.S. Lane and John p.
Leith: does John Calvin believe in the freedom of the will? For if human beings are no longer free to make the choices that they make, instead being coerced by God into doing whatever they do, then it is hard to see how human beings remain morally responsible for their actions. So, what precisely does Calvin teach concerning the freedom of the will, or lack thereof? Interestingly, in the above-mentioned quotation from the Institutes 2.3.5,
Calvin approvingly alludes to Bernard's teaching on the will. As it turns out, this proves to be a fruitful lead in coming to a clearer understanding of Calvin's position.
Bernard of Clairvaux drew distinctions among three different kinds of freedom. In his treatise On Grace and Free Choice he writes, "There are three forms of freedom, as they have occurred to us: freedom from sin, from sorrow and from necessity. The last belongs to our natural condition; to the first we are restored by grace; and the second is 24
reserved for us in our homeland."28 Vincent Briimmer elucidates Bernard's teachins with
the following explanation of each freedom:
,freedom [Bernard] definesfreedomfrom necessity (or of choice,) as 'voluntary consent [which] is a self-determining habit of the soul' (Treatise 1.2). Freedomfrom sin (or'freedom of counsel,) is the kind of freedom referred to by St Paul in Romans 6:20-22where he writes: .When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the return you get is sanctification and its end, etemal life., Freedomfrom sorrow (or 'freedom of pleasure') is the kind of freedom St paul iefers to in Romans 8:21 where he writes: 'The creation itself will be set free from its bondage- to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of 6o6.r2e
Since the freedom from necessity belongs to our natural condition, Bernard maintains that the human will, also after the fall into sin, is not under any external coercion to choose what it chooses. In other words, when the fallen will makes its choice it acts voluntarily; it is not acted upon violently. In order to express this succinctly, Bernard uses the term "self-determining." "The soul is self-determining in the sense that its actions are freely initiated by the will and are not the effects of some necessitating cause outside the will."3o At the same time, since, outside of grace, the will itself is not free from sin, the choices which it makes are, by nature, inclined to be evil rather than sood. Nevertheless' since the will is free from external necessity and, therefore, self- determining, moral agency remains intact. These helpful insights from Bernard of
Clairvaux elucidate the teachings of Calvin of Geneva.
28 Bernard of clairvaux. TreatisesllL cistercian publications: Karamazoo. r977.3.j tn Briimmer, "Calvin, Bernard," 439.
'o Bri.immer, "Calvin, Bernard." 440. 25
Not only does Calvin accept the three freedoms of Bernard, but he also agrees with
the manner in which this scholarly monk worked with those distinctions. In fact. a
passage in the Institutes 2.3.5 is a veritable echo of Bernard,s statements:
Now in the schools three kinds of freedom are distinguished: first from necessity, second from sin, third from misery. The first of these so inheres in man by nature that it cannot possibly be taken away, but the others have been lost through sin. I willingly accept this distinction, except in so far as necessity is falsely confused with compulsion.
Like Bernard, Calvin also believes that no person is violently compelled by God to do
whatever he does. Neither is anyone coerced by the force of fate. In this sense, and this
sense only, Calvin believes in a free will: after the fall the will is still free of external
coercion. As he says, "Man will then be spoken of as having this sort of free decision,
not because he has free choice equally ofgood and evil, but because he acts wickedly by will, not by compulsion."3l If Hoitenga had worked more extensively with these distinctions that both Bernard and Calvin make, then perhaps he would have given a more favourable judgment of Calvin's account of the will.
Hoitenga's main concem centres around moral responsibility. If, as Calvin teaches, the fallen human will is so corrupt that it necessarily inclines toward sin, how can God hold people accountable for their actions? Calvin begins to address that concern in his
Institutes with the following dictum: "man, while he sins of necessity, yet sins no less voluntarily ."t' By this he means that people necessarily sin because they are by nature sinful. The effect of the fall is such that the inclination of their will is bent towards iniquity, not charity. Outside of grace this evil bent will not be altered. Thus people sin necessarily. However, it is, most assuredly, the person in question who sins. Sin does
'" Calvin, Institutes2.2.7. cf. Lane, "calvin," 7g-g0; Leith,,.The Doctrine ofthe will,',54-56.
" Calvin, Institutes 2.4.1 . 26
not originate in God. Neither may anyone assign the blame for his or her misdeeds to
Satan. Rather, the origin of the evil rests squarely in the soul of the sinner. Conceming
sins, Calvin says, "their cause is not be sought outside man's will, from which the root of
evil springs up, and on which rests the foundation of Satan's kingdom, that is, sin."33
Thus it is that human beings sin voluntarily. Furthennore, since they commit evll of their
own will, they are morally responsible for their actions.
Summary & Evaluation
John Calvin and Dewey Hoitenga approach the doctrine of the will from different starting
points. While Calvin wrote as a theologian for whom the truth of Scripture was
paramount, Hoitenga works from within a philosophical framework which highly
esteems rational consistency. When Hoitenga places Calvin's teaching about the will
upon the scales of logic, he hnds it wanting.
In the first place, he charges him with the inconsistency of being an intellectualist
about human beings in the created state but being a voluntarist concerning the fallen
state. However, a closer look at the Institutes reveals that Calvin does not adhere to a
rigidly intellectualist position on the human nature at creation. He is open to speaking
about the influence of the will upon the intellect in Eden. Likewise, Calvin is not strictly
voluntaristic about the condition of sinful human beings. Rather, he emphasizes that the whole person, including both the intellect and the will, has become corrupted by the fall.
Thus, while Hoitenga charges Calvin with an inconsistency, he himself is incomplete in
" Calvin, Institutes 2.4.1. 27
bringing out the nuances of Calvin's position. Once those nuances are appreciated, the
magnitude of calvin's alleged inconsistency is substantially diminished.
Secondly, Hoitenga contends that Calvin speaks so disparagingly about the freedom
of the human will after the fall into sin that there is not enough left of the will to account
for moral responsibility. Calvin clearly maintains that the will still exists within the
human soul after the fall. The difficulty arises in precisely how the "freedom" of that
will is defined. Using distinctions that he borrowed from Bernard of Clairvaux, Calvin
speaks of freedom from coercion, freedom from sin and freedom from misery. If
freedom from coercion is meant, then Calvin wholeheartedly agrees: the will of fallen
human beings remains naturally free. God does not coerce anyone into iniquity. Those
who sin, sin voluntarily; therefore, they are also morally responsible for their evil deeds.
At the same time, in his Institutes Calvin says that this uncoerced will is so utterly corrupt that it is necessarily inclined to sin, unless it is liberated from sin and miserv bv the srace ofGod.
This provisional comparison of Hoitenga's critique and Calvin's Institutes has revealed some weaknesses in the philosopher's reading of Geneva's reformer. At this point, though, Hoitenga's concerns have still not been completely and satisfactorily addressed. For if fallen human beings sin necessarily, does not the inevitability of their sinful actions, in the end, still nullify their moral responsibility? Moreover, if humans are not held responsible for their sins, does that not leave God open to the charge of authoring evil? Also, what should be said concerning altruism and philanthropy? Does the existence of these virtues in the hearts of sinners not indicate that fallen souls can still, of themselves, rise and aspire to morally lofty goals? To answer these questions we 28 must take time to explore the theological heritage that Calvin received from the Church
Fathers, as well as the sixteenth century context in which he formulated his own teaching on the human will. CHAPTER THREE
AUGUSTINE ON THE FREEDOM OF THE WILL
John Calvin was an avid pupil of the Church Fathers.' Yet there was one Father whom
he studied and cited more than any other - namely, Augustine of Hippo (ao 354-430). In the Institutes alone Calvin quotes from Augustine's writings over 475 times.2 Moreover.
conceming the bishop of Hippo he writes, "If I wanted to weave a whole volume from
Augustine, I could readily show my readers that I need no other language than his.,'3
What is more, Calvin particularly expressed appreciation for Augustine's treatment of the
human will. Even though, generally speaking, Calvin holds the Church Fathers in high
regard, when it comes to the doctrine of the human will he does not have much good to
say about them. He says that they "so differ, waver, or speak confusedly on this subject, that almost nothing certain can be derived from their writings."a There is only one exception, Augustine. "Perhaps I may seem to have brought a great prejudice upon
myself when I confess that all ecclesiastical writers, except Augustine, have spoken so
ambiguously or variously on this matter that nothing certain can be gained from their
' on this topic see the worthwhile study of A.N.S. Lane, John Calvin: stuclent of the Church Fathers (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1gg9). t Lane, John Calvin: Student of the Church Fathers,55_56. ' Caf vin, Institutes. 3.22.g. ' Calvin, Institutes, 2.2.4. 30
writings."s Others may judge whether or not Calvin has indeed fallen prey to prejudice
on this point. For our present purposes it is enough to state that if he found the teachings
of Augustine so exclusively important for formulating the doctrine of the human will.
then it will be worthwhile listening to Augustine in order to understand Calvin better.
Furthermore, the writings of Augustine also figure prominently in the debate between
John Calvin and Albert Pighius. In their respective treatises both men devote a separate
chapter entirely to Augustine.b
Harking back to Hoitenga's critique, one finds yet another motivation for delving into
the thoughts of Augustine on this matter. Hoitenga claims that Calvin's doctrine of the
will goes askew precisely because he departs from the Augustinian principle - viz., that
in the fallen state the natural gifts of human beings were corupted but the supernatural were taken away.' In other words, Hoitenga is contending that, at least on this point,
Calvin ought to have been more Augustinian. As mentioned above, Calvin held Augustine in very high esteem. Therefore, it is unusual and intriguing to hear him being accused of insufficient adherence to this Church Father. Is this accusation well-founded? What did Augustine actually teach about the human will? How much, and in wnat way, do his formulations differ from those of Calvin? A closer look at Augustine,s writings will provide the answers to these questions.
' Calvin, Institutes. 2.2.9. 6 See the section "seeking the Support of the Fathers,' starting on pp. 63ff below. t Hoitenga, John Calvin and the Will,70-74,10g-l l, 122_23. a1 JI
A Personal and Theological pilgrimage
The writings of Augustine cannot be properly understood without appreciation for the spiritual journey which indelibly marked the life of this theologian.t Bo* in Tagaste,
North Africa, his mother was a devout Christian but his father was a pagan. During his
school days Augustine appears to have followed the example of his father rather than his
mother and, by his own admission, lived a worldly and carnal life.e Trained in the art of
discourse' he went on to teach rhetoric in North Africa while at the same time becoming a follower of Mani' After a while, though, he became disillusioned with Manichaeanism
and immersed himself instead in Neo-Platonism. During this time he also moved to
Milan where he was exposed to the preaching of Ambrose, through whom he was
eventually converted to the Christian faith. Subsequently he was ordained as a priest in Hippo and later appointed as that city's bishop. Thus the pilgrimage of Augustine,s life took him all the way from being a bawdy youth to serving as a distinguished bishop.
Yet this pilgrimage did not end once Augustine donned his clerical vestments. He, like any other theologian, had to develop and refine his thinking on the various doctrines of the church' Augustine's teaching on the human will is a case in point. His first
treatise on the will. The Problem of Free choice,to was written over a span of seven years' beginning in the year 388. Remarkably, Augustine began writing this book only one year after he had been baptizedby Ambrose. Some of his last comments on this t The key biographical details of Augustine's life can be found in walter A. Elwell, ed. Evangelical of Theolos,t (Grand Rapids; faker Book ..Augusrine ?;':rzi:* House, 1984), s.v. of Hippo,,, by N.L. e Auqu.stine, Confessions, The Fathers ., of the church , no.21 ,trans. vernon J. Bourke (New york: Fathers- of the Church, lgi3), 2.1.1. l0 Augustine, The Problem of Free Choice,Ancient christian Pontifex york: writers, no.22,trans. Dom Mark (New Newman press. 1955). )Z
doctrine are found' naturally, in his Retractions (426-427). Between those two literary
bookends Augustine also wrote other volumes which give significant attention to this
topic, including on Nature and Grace (415), The Enchiridion (421) and on Grace and
Free Will (426)- With each successive volume Augustine,s fbrmulations became noticeably more refined and comprehensive. The error of some, especially his pelagian
opponents, was to quote Augustine out of context and without regard for the line of development in his thought. In order to avoid the same pitfall, the above-mentioned writings of Augustine will be examined in historical order, only altering the chronology
slightly in order to better categorize them.
An Anti-Manichaean writing: The probrem of Free choice
As mentioned above, the Problem of Free Choice was written over a seven-year span, almost immediately after Augustine's conversion to the christian faith. one of his first
literary efforts as a christian was to refute the teaching of Mani that evil is co-etemal
with God' Mani taught a deterministic dualism which centered around two eternal principles, Light and Darkness. Light was the source of all that is good and orderly. In
the realm of Light dwelt the Father of Greatness. conversely, Darkness was the root of all evil and anarchy' Not surprisingly, the Prince of Darkness inhabited this dim domain.
In many ways Manichaeanism was an attempt to explain the presence of evil in the world which God created. where does evil come from? Mani's answer was: ultimately it originates from the principle of Darkness.l' As becomes apparent from Augustine's
The Problem of Free Choice,the followers of Mani were prone to use this teachins to
Dictionary of rheotos"(Grand ,.". ,.rY"1ffliJ,''y#';*trffj';# Rapids:Baker Book House, le84), aa JJ
shift the blame for their own sins onto this dark, co-eternal counterpart to God. As a former disciple of Mani himself, Augustine was well qualified to speak on the subject.
He does so by recording a lengthy discussion he had with one of his friends, Evodius,r2 on this topic. Their discussion is divided over three chapters or books.
Book 1
Right from the start Evodius poses the central question: "Is not God the cause of evil?,,r3
Augustine's answer is decidedly in the negative. At the same time, he admits that a
problem remains: "if sins go back to souls created by God, and souls go back to God,
how can we avoid before long tracing sin back to God?"la Augustine and Evodius seek
to solve this problem by investigating more closely the origin of sin. They conclude that
sin occurs when reason does not govern the soul as it should but lets the evil passions take control instead.ls Alternatively, sin can enter a person,s life when he pursues a
temporal, earthly good rather than the etemal, heavenly things.16 In either case the
motivating force for that sinful course of action is neither to be sought nor found in God or in some kind of dark, eternal principle. Sinners only have themselves to blame. Thus
both Evodius and Augustine agree that people do wrong "voluntarily through the free
12 Evodius is not a fictional character created by Augustine. He was a real Augustine's hometown friend of his who came iiom of Tagaste. tte was in ttre specii rniritu.y Augustine' ,..uice and, at one point in his life, like he was converted and baptized. tn ii,n"'Euodius similar weni ,o nrti.u with Augustine, and again to Augustine, became a priesi and then the bishop e". more details see Dom Mark Pontifex' "lntroduction in Thi Problem "rui"r".- ," of iree Choici,ed. Dom Mark pontifex (New york: Press, 1955), 15. Newman r3 Augustine, Free Choice. 1.1 .1 . ra Augustine, Free Choice, 1.2.4. l5 Augustine, Free Choice,1.8.18-1.9.19. Here Augustine reveals some of his own inclinatron an intellectualistic view of the soul. towards 16 Augustine, Free Choice,l. 15.3 l_1.15.33. 34 choice of our will."l7 Notably, Augustine also calls this free choice of man "his own good will."l8
Book 2
The discussion does not end at this point, though, since Evodius has a further query.
"Now explain to me," he asks, "if you can, why God has given man free choice of will.
For if man had not received this gift, he would not be capable of sin." Augustine answers his friend by comparing the will of the soul to the eye of the body.'e No one would deny that the eye is a good gift from God for the human body. The eye can be used every day for both utilitarian and artistic purposes. However, someone may also use that very same eye in a sinful way - for example, lustfully. Does that make the eye an evil gift? Is God, then, at fault for placing the eye in the body? Of course not! Likewise, Augustine argues, the will is a good gift from God, regardless of how a person may use that gift.2O
Should someone use his will for ill, it is clearly the creature, not the Creator, who is at fault. Next Augustine appends a significant point to their discussion when he adds, "But, though man fell through his own will, he cannot rise through his own will. Therefore let us believe firmly that God's right hand, that is, Our Lord Jesus Christ, is extended out to us from on high; let us await this help with sure hope, and let us desire it with ardent charity."2l The stumble into sin is different than the salvation from sin. The former people can do all on their own; the latter they cannot.
" Augustine, Free Choice, 1.16.35. Lat.facimus ex liberovoluntatis arbitrio l8 Augustine, Free Choice, l. | 3.28. re Augustine, Free Choice, 2.18.48. 20 Augustine, Free Choice, 2.18.4g-2.18.50. 2l Augustine, Free Choice, 2.20.54. 35
Book 3
However, Evodius is still not completely satisfied. Granted, a person's own will causes him to sin. Nevertheless, Evodius continues, "I should like you to tell me what is the cause of that movement by which this will turns away from the unchangeable good which
is common to all, and turns towards private goods. ..."22 Inshort, what causes the will to
incline towards sin? ln response Augustine delineates the difference between a soul and a stone.23 Once it is dropped, a stone naturally and inevitably falls to the ground. The
stone is not culpable for its fall since it belongs to the created nature of stone that it will
descend if dropped. However, a soul is different than a stone. The soul that sins is blameworthy, for it does not belong to the created nature of a soul to sin. The soul was
created by God, and whatever God created was good. Therefore, whereas God did create the stone to fall, he certainly did not create the soul to fall.
As one might expect, at this juncture God's foreknowledge enters the discussion.2a
For if God knows in advance every.thing that happens, whether good or evil, then might it
not be that God's foreknowledge causes the human will to turn toward sin? Augustine
leads Evodius to the desired answer during the course of the following dialogue:
A. - If you foreknew someone would sin, would he be bound to sin? E. - Yes, he would be bound to sin. I should not have foreknowledge, unless what I foreknew was certain. A. - Then it is not because God foreknows it that what He foreknows is bound to happen, but only because it is foreknowledge. If what is foreknown is not certain, there is no foreknowledge. E. - I agree. But what does this imply? A. - It implies, unless I am mistaken, that you would not necessarily compel a man to sin by foreknowing his sin. Your foreknowledge would not be the cause of his sin, though undoubtedly he would sin; otherwise
22 Augustine, Free Choice,3.l.l . 23 Augustine, Free Choice,3.l .2-3.1 .3. 2a Augustine, Free Choice,3.2.4. 36
you would not foreknow that this would happen. Therefore these two are not contradictory, your foreknowledge and someone else's free act. So too God compels no one to sin, though He foresees those who will sin by their own will. Why, then, should not one who is just punish what he does not compel, though he foreknows it?2s
However, Evodius retums to his original question, coming at it from a different angle this time. He observes that some creatures never sin (e.g., angels), while others persist in sin
(e.g., demons) and still others repent from sin (e.g., believers).26 His question remains: what causes one created will to incline differently than another? To this Augustine rejoins, "You ought not to look further than the root."27 For, he says, "... if you look for the cause of this root, how can it be the root of all evil? Such cause would be the root cause, and if you found it, you will, as I said, look for a further cause, and the inquiry will be endless."28 In other words, once the root of evil, which is the human soul, has been reached it serves no purpose to dig any deeper.
Before closing the discussion, though, Augustine brings forward one more significant point. People no longer have the free choice which they once had. They cannot simply choose for good or evil as they did in the pristine state of created integrity. It is worth
listening to Augustine's own words on this point:
It is not surprising that man, through his ignorance, does not have free choice of will to determine what he ousht to do: or that. throush the
" Augustine, Free Choice, 3.4.10-3.4.11 . What Augustine fails to address in this passage is that Scriptures speaks not only of God's.foreknowledge but also his foreordination or etemal decree (cf. Rom. 8:28-30, Eph. I : I I ). For it is more challenging to explain how God's foreordination can co-exist with human responsibility than it is to explain how God's foreknowledge can do the same. Perhaps Augustine would have said that the compatibility of God's etemal decree and human responsibility is beyond our finite understanding. On this point also see John M. Rist, "Augustine on Free Will and Predestination," in
Augustine: A Collection of Critical Essays, ed. R.A. Markus (Garden City: Anchor Books, 1972), 240-41 . Rist finds that Augustine too often "takes refuge behind the Pauline O altitudo and the other scriptural texts which indicate God's ways are past finding out" (240-41). 26 Augustine, Free Choice,3.l7 .47 . 27 Augustine, Free Choice,3.17 .48. 28 Augustine, Free Choice, 3.17.48. JI
resistance of carnal habits, which have become second nature as a result of the element of unrestraint handed on in human heredity, he sees what he ought to do and wills it, but cannot accomplish it. It is an absolutely just punishment for sin that a man should lose what he refuses to use rightly, when he could do so without any difficulty if he wished. Thus a man who knows what he ought to do and does not do it, loses the knowledge of what is right, and the man who has refused to act rightly when he could, loses the power when he wishes to have it. Indeed for every sinful soul there are the two punishments, ignorance and diffrculty. As a result of ^.. ignorance error shames us, and as a result of difficulty pain torments us."
Then, so that there might be no lingering confusion on this point, he adds, "When we speak of a will free to act rightly, we speak of the will with which man was created."30
Finally, it should be noted that in his discussion with Evodius, Augustine repeatedly counsels his friend to maintain due reverence for God at all times.3l Human beings are prone to question God with an accusatory attitude or murnur against his divine decrees, all the while trying to find some excuse for their own misdeeds. Time and again
Augustine enjoins Evodius to remain humble and respect the Holy One. Apparently, concerning the doctrine of the will, attitude is as important as answers.
Anti-Pelagian Writings on the Will
On Nature and Grace
By the time Augustine writes On Nature and Grace in lo 415, he is busy countering another heresy, Pelagianism. Dom Mark Pontifex has outlined a helpful summary of the
Pelagian teachings which is quoted, in part, below:
(a) It rejected the doctrine that through grace we are predestined to be children of God, and maintained that without the help of grace man can
2e Augustine, Free Choice,3. 18.52. 30 Augustine, Free Choice,3.l8.52. '' For example, Free Choice, 3.2.4-5; 3.9.24-25; 3.17.48-49. 38
fulfill all divine commands. (b) Pelagius yielded so far as to say that grace was given, but explained that is was given only that man might do right more easily; in other words, he still maintained that man could do right without grace, but in that case with more difficulty than when grace was received. (c) He still maintained that grace was nothing else than the free will which we have received from God. God helps us by His law and doctrine to learn our duty, but not to carry it out. Thus we receive knowledge from God, but not the charity whereby to live rightly.32
Augustine begins his refutation of Pelagianism by affirming what he had already set forth in The Problem of Free Choice - namely, that when people sin, it is their own free choice which leads them into evil. When Pelagius asks if a person's sin is voluntary,
Augustine responds, "Beyond all doubt it is his own."33 Yet whereas Augustine's polemics with the Manichaeans focussed on theodicy, his debate with the Pelagians revolves around grace and the doctrine of redemption. He exhorts his readers not to become proud, "as if a man could be healed by the very same power by which he became corrupted."34 This is the crux of the matter. One might assume that if free choice brought human beings into sin, then that same free choice also ought to be able to extract them from sin. However, Augustine maintains that the cure is different than the disease.3s To become infected all people needed was a human will, but in order to be healed they need divine grace.
At the same time, pointing out the necessity of God's grace does not nullify the freedom of the human will. As Augustine goes on to explain:
" Pontifex, "lntroduction," 10. 33 Augustine, On Nature and Grace, The Fathers of the Church, no. 86, trans. John A. Mourant and William J. Collinge (Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 1992),30.34. ra Augustine, On Nature ancl Grace,30.34. 35 See above in the section on Book 2 of The Problem of Free Choice where Augustine makes a similar point. 39
In recalling these words we do not take away the freedom of the will, but rather we preach the grace of God. For to whom are these words helpfu^, except to the one who uses his own will, but uses it humbly, not priding himself in the strensth of his will. as if it alone were sufficient to achieve justice?36
At first glance it is not easy to ht the above statement into Augustine's train of thought.
If the grace of God is responsible for curing human beings from the disease of sin, what place is there yet for the freedom of the will? Do the human will and divine grace somehow co-operate with each other in order to reach the end goal of redemption from sin? Elsewhere Augustine clearly rejects the notion that the fallen will itself can make any positive contribution towards the process of regeneration.3T Yet what does he mean, then, when he says, "we do not take away freedom of will, but rather we preach the grace of God"? Recalling his discussion with Evodius about the difference between a soul and a stone, it becomes clear that Augustine's point is that God's grace does not act upon a person as if that human being were some kind of stone being inevitably compelled into salvation by the gravity of God's grace. On the contrary, sinful human beings are still souls, and as souls, they still have wills. In his grace God works on that human will itself so that it actually uses the good and redemptive gifts that God has supplied.
Admittedly, at this point, Augustine does not expound all of this with the degree of clarity which one might hope for. However, it must be borne in mind that he is busy developing his formulations in the midst of intense labours and fiery debates. The refining of doctrine, no less than that of metal, is a far from instantaneous process.
Essentially, in On Nature and Grace Augustine wants to establish one fundamental point:
'" Augustine, On Nature and Grace,32.36. -'l7^ See below rn the section on Augustine's Enchiridion. 40 whereas the Pelagians taught that salvation could be accomplished with the innate powers of nature, Augustine affirms that it is completely impossible outside of God's grace.
On Grace and Free Will
In the opening words of this treatise Augustine observes that some defend free will so as to deny God's grace, while others defend God's grace so as to deny free will.38 Here, then, he picks up where he left off in On Nature and Grace, and he writes more about how God's grace and the free will of human beings are to be seen in relation to each other. The numerous commands with which the Lord addresses human beings in the
Scriptures prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that people have a free will. Augustine phrases it in this way:
Now whenever there is the express statement not to do this or that, and whenever the performance of the will is required to do or refrain from some action, in keeping with God's commandments, that is sufhcient proof of the free choice of the will. Let no man, therefore, blame God in his heart whenever he sins, but let him impute the sin to himself.3e
It is crucial to note the context in which Augustine is speaking. The question at hand is: who is to blame for sin, God or human beings? In this context Augustine asserts, as it
o'Human were, beings, God has told you exactly what to do. Now, if you still decide to do otherwise, do not blame God. God did not compel you to sin. That was your own free choice."
Yet Augustine immediately cautions that this "free choice" must not be understood in such a way that it denies God's grace. For the same Scriptures which contain the divine commandments also contain the divine testimony "having to do with grace, without
38 Augustine, Grace and Free Will, The Fathers of the Church, no. 59, trans. Robert P. Russell
(Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 1968), 1.1 . 3e Augustine, Grace and Free Will,2.4. +t17 which we are incapable of doing good.. .."40 Then, after discussing various aspects and implications of God's grace, Augustine describes the manner in which the free will still remains in fallen human beinss.
Free will is always present in us, but it is not always good. For it is either free ofjustice, while serving sin, and then it is evil; or it is free of sin, while serving justice, and then it is good. But the grace of God is always good and brings about a good will in a man who before was possessed of an evil will. It is by this grace, too, that this same good will, once it begins to exist, is expanded and made so strong that it is able to fulfill whatever of God's commandments it wishes" whenever it does so with a strong and perfect will.al
Obviously Augustine employs the term "free will" in a markedly different manner than it is commonly used. Often this term is used to describe a will thatisfree to either choose or reject God's gift of salvation. However, for Augustine the freedom of the fallen will consists in it beingy' ee from righteousness,a2 while the freedom of the redeemed will is o'free," that rs freed.from sin. Therefore, using Augustine's own definitions for there is indeed no contradiction between God's grace and the evil free will. On the contrary,
God's grace is precisely what the fallen (free-from-righteousness) will needs.
Other lmportant Documents on the Will
Enchiridion
Published in to 42l,the Enchiridion, also known as Fqith, Hope and Charity, is a manual of doctrine which serves a purpose similar to that of a catechism. It is
Augustine's concise summary of the main points of the Christian faith. Concerning
a0 Augustine, Grace and Free Wilt,4.7. al Augustine, Grace and Free Will, 15.31 . a2 The Latin term which Augustine uses, iustitia, can either be translated 'Justice," as the translator tn The Fathers of the Church series does, or "righteousness." The latter is how the term is commonly used in the Vulgate, especially in the Pauline epistles. For this reason I use the word "righteousness" here. ALAa human beings in their created state, Augustine teaches that God made Adam and Eve entirely good. However, he did not create humankind supremely and unchangeably good, like himself. God created human beings with the potential for their goodness to be increased or decreased.a3 When they fell they became "an evil good."44 This is not an oxymoron, but an insightful description of the corrupted state of the human race. As
Augustine puts it: "we frnd it is not because he is a man that he is an evil nor because he is wicked that he is a good, but a good because he is a man and an evil because he is wicked."as Thus, in this one, well-crafted phrase - "anevil good" - Augustine manages to refute both Manichaeanism and Pelagianism.
Focussing in on the will in its fallen state, Augustine asks, "What good can a condemned man do except as he has been released from his condemnation? Can he by the free decision of his own will? [sic] Here again, God forbid. Man misusing his free will destroys both himself and it."a6 Using his rhetorical skills, Augustine goes on to compare the demise of the will to a suicide: "A man who kills himself no longer lives and cannot restore himself to life. So also, when he has sinned through free will, sin is victorious and his free will is lost."a7 The only One who can work a resurrection after this suicide is God who is both gracious and almighty. Is there, then, no sense in which the fallen human beings still have a free will? Yes, but it is a different definition of freedom than many might suppose: "for that service is liberty which freely does the will
"' Augustine, Faith, Hope and ChariQ, The Fathers of the Church, no.2, trans. Bernard M. Peebles (New York: CIMA Publishing, 1947),4.12. aa Augustine, Enchiridion, 4.13. a5 Augustine, Enchiridion, 4.13. a6 Augustine, Enchiridion, 9.30. a7 Augustine, Enchir iclion, 9.30. 43 of the master. Accordingly,he isfree to sin who is the servant to sin."48 Needless to say, freely being in bondage to sin is not a laudable kind of freedom. Therefore, Augustine directs his readers to the words of Jesus Christ who says, "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:36).
Further, should anyone be inclined to boast that the will, of its own accord, takes the initial step towards God's grace, Augustine tums to the apostle Paul who writes, "It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy" (Rom. 9:16). Now if someone interprets this passage to say that the human will is not sufficient unto salvation, but needs the assistance of God's grace, then Augustine replies that conversely this same person must also maintain that God's grace is not sufficient but needs the assistance of the human will. So. he concludes:
But if no Christian, for fear of openly contradicting the Apostles, will dare say, "There is question not of God showing mercy, but of man who wills," it follows that the only proper interpretation of the verse, "There is question not of him who wills nor of him who runs, but of God showing mercy," is to ascribe all to God, who both makes the good will of man ready to help and helps it when it has been made ready.ae
Retractions
Towards the end of his earthly pilgrimage, Augustine took the time to review his writings and meticulously retract or correct anything he had said which, in hindsight, he felt should not have been said. Remarkably, when he reassesses his writings on the freedom of the will, he does not retract or correct any'thing that he wrote, not even from his earliest writing, The Problem of Free Choice. Instead, he stands firmly behind his words, only
a8 Augustine, Enchiridion,9.30; emphasis mine. ae Augustine, Enchiridion, 9.32. 44 pausing here and there to correct his opponents who, according to him, had twisted what he wrote.
For instance, the Pelagians used his earliest treatise on the will to prove that
Augustine contradicts himself. Contra the Pelagians, Augustine declared that the free will cannot do anyhing; in fact, it has been destroyed by the fall. However, contrathe
Manichaeans the same Augustine speaks highly and consistently of the free choice of human beings. Lest the Pelagians be permitted to pursue such accusations any further,
Augustine points out in Book 1.9 of his Retractions that his opponents fail to discern the difference between his earlier and later writings. The discussion between Evodius and
Augustine was aimed at tracing out the cause of evil. In order to protect God's holy righteousness against the charge of inciting evil, Augustine emphasized that human beings choose to sin voluntarily, that is, freely and of their own accord.s0
However, he continues, "It is one thing to inquire into the source of evil and another to inquire how one can return to his original good or reach one that is greater."s' The
Pelagians defend free will, not in order to protect God's holiness, but in such a way that they diminish, or even deny, God's grace. This is what Augustine refutes in his later writings when he states that the free will is dead and cannot contribute anlthing towards a person's salvation. Moreover, Augustine is quick to point out that even when he was busy refuting the Manichaeans, he already disproved the Pelagians, as it were in advance, when he wrote, "When we speak, then, of a will to act rightly we are speaking, to be sure,
50 Augustine, The Retractiors, The Fathers of the Church, no. 60, trans. Mary Inez Bogan (Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 1968), 1.8.1. 5r Augustine, Retractions, 1.8.2. 45 of that will with which man was created."52 Thus, at least in his own estimation.
Augustine did not think that his teaching on the human will had changed over the years, nor that it needed to be chanqed.53
Summary & Evaluation
Augustine's Contribution to the Doctrine of the Will
Augustine's theological pilgrimage illustrates the need for vigilant attention to both the definitions of terms and the context of discussion. This is one of his foremost contributions to the development of the doctrine of the human will. A case in point is the all-important term "free" or "freedom." Within the context of his polemics against the disciples of Mani, Augustine uses the term "free will" to indicate a will thatisfree from external coercion. From this perspective the "freedom of the will" essentially becomes synonymous with "within one's own responsibility."to Yet within the context of another debate, namely the one against the Pelagians, Augustine uses the term "free will" to mean free from righteousness regarding fallen humans orfree from sin regarding redeemed humans.
Similarly, the word "nature" or "natural" can be used by different people to mean different things. What are the "natural" powers of human beings? The answer depends on whether the person is speaking about human nature as it was created in the beginning
52 Augustine, Retractions, 1.8.5. 53 See also Marianne Djuth, "The Hermeneutic s of De Libero Arbitrio lll: Are There Two Augustines?" in Studia Patristica Vol. 27, ed. William S. Babcock (Louvain: Peeters, 1993). Djuth upholds Augustine's self-evaluation and states, "for those who follow Augustine along his path, it is clear that there is but one Augustine, the Christian Augustine, whose advance in perfection requires a conception of human ffeedom that exhibits change in continuity" (289). 5a See also Rist, "Augustine on Free Will and Predestination," 224. "Hence it is more accurate to say that liber in the phrases liberavoluntas, liberum arbitrium means'responsible'...." 46
or about human nature as it exists now after the fall into sin. Since so many writers fail to
distinguish between these two defrnitions of "nature," the discussion on the human will is
often beset by a fog of confused terminology. For this reason Augustine makes a special point of defining his terms carefully.5s As we shall see, these same issues of carefully understanding the context and precisely defining the terms will play major roles in
Calvin's development of this doctrine.s6
Another significant contribution which Augustine makes is the manner in which he avoids going to erroneous extremes even as he vigorously refutes his opponents. He manages to sail his theological ship through straits of orthodoxy without running aground on either the Scylla of stoicism or the Charybdis of synergism. In his battle against the
Manichaeans Augustine could have easily overstated human responsibility to the point of compromising the grace of God. However, as soon it might appear that he is veering off
in that direction, Augustine reminds his readers that "though man fell through his own will, he cannot rise through his own will."s7 Likewise, as he is busy countering the
Pelagian optimism conceming human nature with the doctrine of total depravity, it would not have taken much for Augustine to deny the humanity of humans, leaving them as little more than passive pawns in the hands of the Omnipotent. However, before he swerves off in that direction, he brings forth that memorable description of people as 'oan evil good," thereby upholding his own principle that human nature is corrupted by the fall but it is not taken u*uy.tt
55 Augustine, Free Choice, 3.19.54. tu See pp.6lf. below. 57 Augustine, Free Choice, 2.20.54. tt For a different opinion see James Wetzel, "snares of Truth: Augustine on Free Will and Predestination," in Augustine and His Critics, ed. James Wetzel (London: Routledge,2000), 134. He +IA1
Augustine, Calvin and Hoitenga
As noted at the beginning of this chapter, Hoitenga has criticized John Calvin for departing from the Augustinian principle conceming the human will. This principle, cited favourably by Calvin on various occasions in his Institutes,se maintains that the natural gifts of human beings were corrupted but the supernatural were taken away. In
Hoitenga's estimation "the natural functions of the will" are an "inclination to goodness and moral choice."60 Based on that understanding, he is dismayed that Calvin goes on to say that the fall into sin resulted in the "ruin and destruction of the human nature"6l and the utter inability of the will "to strive for what is right."62 Following the Augustinian principle, Hoitenga would have expected Calvin to state that the "will should retain, for all its depravity, something of its created inclination to goodness besides its new inclination to evil. . .."u' In order to correct what he considers to be an extreme and effoneous description of the fallen human nature, Hoitenga makes his so-called "Appeal to Augustine,"6a hoping that a stronger injection of Augustinian influence into Calvin's statements will result in a slightly more optimistic view of the will's condition after the fall.
In response to Hoitenga's critique, two things must be said. In the first place, it appears that he has made his appeal to the wrong address. For in almost precisely the
agrees with other critics of Augustine who say that this Church Father "has crossed the line" and so denigrated the fallen human nature that there is "no 'you' to enter into a relationship" with God.
'n Calvin, Institutes, 2.2.4, 2.2.12, 2.2.1 6. uo Hoitenga, John Calvin and the llltilt,74:emphasis mine. u' Cafvin, Institutes, 2.3.2. ut Calvin, Institutes, 2.2.12. ut Hoitenga, John Calvin and the Will,13. uo Hoitenga, John Calvin and the Witt, 122-23. 48
same, stark language as Calvin uses, Augustine declares that by the evil use of his free
will "man destroyed both it and himself'6s and that the ability of the will to do rightly
was only found in the created state, not the fallen one.66 Secondly, Hoitenga appears to
be working with a different definition of "natural gifts" than Augustine does. For
Augustine, one of the natural gifts which God has given to human beings is their ability
to make moral choices. A human being is not a stone, either before or after the fall.67
Yet after the fall, there is no mixture of good and evil inclinations within the human
heart, as Hoitenga suggests. Augustine clearly teaches that the freedom to choose either
good or evil has been lost, and the only sense in which the freedom of the will continues
to exist, after the fall, is that "he who is the servant of sin isfree to sin."68
Therefore, if Hoitenga still wishes to accuse Calvin of departing from the Augustinian principle, then he must also charge Augustine with departing from his own principle.
The better route, though, is to pay close attention to the historical and literary context of these statements in an effort to understand what these theologians actually meant to say.
This has now been done for Augustine. It is time to advance from the fifth century to the
sixteenth century in order to discover what Calvin taught concerning the human will.
65 Augustine, Enchiridion, 9.30. 66 Augustine, Free Choice, 3.1g.52. 67 See the section above on Augustine's The problem of Free Choice,pp. 35ff. 68 Augustine, Enchiriclion, Chapter 30; emphasis mine. CHAPTER FOUR
CALVIN'S DEBATE WITH ALBERT PIGHIUS
In the early 1540s Albert Pighius of Kampen and John Calvin of Geneva engaged in
polemics conceming the doctrine of the human will. Briefly put, the debate developed in
the following manner. In 1539 Calvin published the second edition of his Institutes, in
which he included significantly more material than the first edition of 1536. Part of the
expansion was a new chapter entitled "The Knowledge of Humanity and Free Choice," as
well as a chapter on "The Predestination and Providence of God." When pighius'
attention fell upon this new edition of Calvin's work, he found himself in sharp
disagreement with some of the new additions. Consequently he wrote a lengthy
manuscript criticizing Calvin's doctrine of the human will as both absurd and
unorthodox. This volume was published in August 1542 under the title, Ten Books on
Human Free Choice and Divine Grace.l
Calvin did not wait long before bringing his response to the printer. Already by
February of 1543 his Defence of the Sound and Orthodox Doctrine of the Bondage and
Liberation of Human Choice against the Misrepresentations of Albert Pighius of
' De libero hominis arbitrio et divina gratia, Libri decem (Cologne: MelchiorNovesianus, 1542). On the translation, or lack thereof, of this work see n. 6 below. Hereafter Pighius' book is simply referred to as Free Choice. 50
Kampen" was available for sale at the Frankfurt book fair. Due to time constraints,
Calvin only covered the first six books of Pighius' Free Choice, which deal mainly with
the freedom of the will. He fully intended to write the other part of his defence,
concerning God's predestination, by the 1544 book fair. However, Pighius died on 29
December 7542, and Calvin deemed it best "not to insult a dead dog."' Some years later,
though, in 1551, when Jerome Bolsec took issue with Calvin's doctrine of predestination,
the theologian of Geneva had opportunity to complete his repudiation of Pighius'
teachings when he published Concerning the Eternal Predestination of God.a
Since Calvin was a dominant ftgure in the Reformation of the sixteenth century, and
since these polemics with Albert Pighius focus on central doctrines of the Christian faith,
one might expect that over time theologians and historians would have paid a good
amount of scholarly attention to this debate. This has not been the case, though. Indeed,
it was not until quite recently, in 7996,that Calvin's Bondage and Liberation of the t4till
finally appeared in English translation for the first time.s Pighius' Free Choice still
remains in its original Latin, not having been translated into any modern language.6
" Defensio sanae et orthodoxae doctrinae de servitute & liberatione humani arbitrii, adversus calumnias Alberti Pighii Campersrs (Geneva: Jean Girard, 1543). See n. 5 below for details on the English translation. Hereafter Calvin's book is simpty refened to as Bondage and Liberation of the Wilt. t John Calvin , Concerning the Eternal Predestination of God (Cambridge: James Clarke & Co., I 96 I ; reprint, Louisville: Westminster Press, 1997), 54. a De aeterna Praedestinatione Dei (Geneva: John Crispin, 1552). t John Calvin , The Bondage and Liberation of the lVilt: A Defence of the Orthodox Doctrine of Human Choice Against Pighius, ed. A.N.S. Lane, trans. G.l. Davies (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1996). o Copies of the original Latin manuscript of Pighius' work are only found in a few libraries in North America, none of which, unfortunately, I had access to. Some select Latin citations fiom the Free Choice, however, have been included in the book of G. Melles, Albertus Pighius en zijn Strijd met Catvijn over het Liberum Arbitrium (Kampen: J.H. Kok, 1973). Melles also translates these quotations into the Dutch language. Thus, the Latin quotations from Pighius' Free Choice, found later on in this chapter, are taken from the footnotes of Melles' book. 51
Secondary literature on the Pighius-Calvin dispute has been similarly sparse.T Even
Dewey Hoitenga's monograph, John Calvin and the [4/ill, makes only a few, cursory
references to Calvin's Bondage and Liberation of the Witl and,instead focuses almost
entirely on his Institutes. Hoitenga justifies his approach with the following comment,
"This treatise fBondage qnd Liberation of the Wilil... mainly reiterates Calvin's view on
the will in the Institutes."8 Although the Bondage and Liberation of the Witt iscertainly
a reinforcement of what Calvin wrote in his Institutes, it is a misleading understatement
to say that it is little more than a reiteration. Calvin's dispute with Pighius was a crucible
in which his thinking on the human will was refined. His argumentation became more
comprehensive as well as more nuanced, and sometimes the most subtle of nuances end
up being the most doctrinally significant.
Calvin's debate with the papal theologian, Pighius, deserves more attention. Calvin
and those who hold to his heritage are often criticized for so emphasizing the supreme,
divine sovereignty that, in effect, human beings are reduced to mere chess pieces that
God arbitrarily moves around on the cosmic playing board of history.e In his 1543
treatise Calvin exerts himself vigorously to argue that that is not the case. Before
examining the issues that come to the fore in this debate, though, Pighius himself stands
in need of some further introduction.
' In addition to the book of Melles mentioned in the previous footnote, there is also L.F. Schulze, Calvin's Reply to Pighius (potchefstroom: pro Rege press, l97l). t Hoit.nga, John Calvin and the llriil. 140. n. l. n For example, one author - who expresses such a sentiment is D. Miall Edwards, as quoted in Charles Partee, "calvin and Determinism," Christian scholar's Review 5 (1975):123. 52
A Brief Biography of Atbert pighius
Albert Pighius (or Pigge) was born around 1490 inKampen, the Netherlands.r0 In 1507
his schooling took him to France, where he studied philosophy and astronomy at the
University of Louvain. This was followed by an additional course of studies in theology,
during which one of his professors was Adrian Florent. Judging by his initial literary
output, it would seem that Pighius' first academic love was astronomy and
mathematics.rr Howev er, in 1522 the course of his life was dramatically altered by his
former professor, Adrian Florent, who, by that time, had become pope Adrian VI. This
pope summoned Pighius to Rome where he served as the papal cubicularius secrepls, not
only for Adrian VI, but also for Clement VII and paul III.
Pighius' summons to the Vatican also entailed him turning his attention away from
the celestial bodies of the heavens and, instead, refocusing his mind upon the church on
earth. His first major theological writing was Adversus GraecorLtm errores ( I 525), in
which he made his case for the reunification of the Orthodox and Roman Catholic
churches. In his opinion such an effort was more worthwhile than trying to find common ground with the Lutherans who, at that time, had just recently broken away from the papacy. Pighius' condemnation of Luther, and of the Reformation in general, took on greater proportions over the course of the subsequent decade, culminatine in his ardent
biographical ^ It T!. details including in this section were gleaned ffom the following sources: F.w. Grosheide and G.P. Van^ltterzon, eds. Christelijke Encyclopeiin.lKu p"n: Kok, 1960), s.v. ,,pighius, Albertus," by D. Nauta; Sch,ulze, Calvin's Repiy, I l-14; Melles, ilbertus pighius,2-11 andA.N.S. Lane, "lntroduction," in The Bondage and Liberation of the lhlt, ed. A.N.S. Lane (Baker Books: Grand Rapids, 1996), xvi-xviii. t' A dversus prognosticatorum - vulgus ( I 5 I 8), a defence of Ptolemaic asffonomy; De aequinoctiorum solsticiorumque inventione (1516) and, De ratione paschalis celebrationis (1520):fwo treatises on revising the calendar; Adversus novam Marci Beneventani astronomiam (1522); Trqctaat over cle kale^nderhervorming (1525); De progtmnasmatis geographicis (nodaie). Funher bibliographic details can be found in Melles, Albertus pighius,T-9. 53
defence of papal supremacy and infallibility, which was publish ed, as Hierarchiae
e c cle s iasticae as s ertio ( 1 53 8).
At some point in the 1530s Pighius returned to his homeland, where he was appointed
as provost and archdeacon of St. John's Church in Utrecht. Despite his deep-seated ill-
will towards the leaders of the Reformation, Pighius was one of the papal theologians
assigned to take part in the interconfessional Colloquia of Worms (1540) and Regensburg (1541)' It was at these conferences between papist and Protestant theologians that
Pighius and Calvin first met. Apparently, their initial contact was already marked by
enmity, for Calvin writes that at Worms he heard that "Albertus pighius was now
threatening me and announcing a fight, but that it was still far away.,,t2 obviously
Pighius was frlled with a passion to refute what he regarded as a grave heresy that Calvin
was promoting within the church - namely, the bondage of the human will.
In the early 1540s Pighius was already busy writing what was to be his magnum opus,
the Periarchon (First Principles).13 However, the more Pighius learned about Calvin, the more convinced he became that his writing project should be targeted specifically against the Reformed theologian of Geneva. Thus it was that the Periarchon never saw the light of day; instead, Pighius metamorphosed parts of it into what is now known as the Ten
Books on Human Free Choice and Divine Grace (1542). A few short months after this book was printed, Pighius died, on 29 Decemb er 1542.
- Calvin, Bondage and Liberation . of the wilt, 7 . For more information on the Colloquia of worms and Regensburg see C. Augustijn, De codsdeinstgesprekken tussen Rooms-Katholieken en protestanten van 1538 tot l54l (Haarlem: Erven F. Bohn, 1967).
'3 Lane, "lntroduction." xvii 54
A Survey of the Debate
This summary will cover the highlights of the first six books of pighius' Free Choice, as
well as Calvin's response to those books in his Bondage and Liberation of the t4titt. The
remaining four books of Pighius' work, although interesting in themselves, will not be part of this study. calvin himself also regarded them as a distinct topic.ra
One way to summarizethe debate between Pighius and Calvin would be to work systemically through the six chapters of the Free Choice in sequence. The advantage of
such an approach is that it would synchronize nicely with Calvin's rebuttal. The
Bondage and Liberation of the l4rill carefully follows Pighius' writing, chapter by chapter
and, at times, even paragraph by paragraph. However, the disadvantage of this approach
is that both Pighius' book and Calvin's reply are lengthy, repetitive documents, and it is
easy to lose sight of the forest for all the trees. What follows is a bird,s eye view of the
debate, looking at the material topic by topic rather than chapter by chapter.
The Underlying Question of Authority
Ostensibly the dispute between Calvin and Pighius is about whether or not the human will, post lapsum, is free to choose either evil or good. Yet the debate is hardly underway when another fundamental issue rises to the surface - namely, what or who will have the final word of authority in this disputation. From the start pighius declares that the knowledge of God and of ourselves is set forth in the divine scriptures.ls At first sight,
'' Cafvin, Bondage and Liberation of the Will,244. ts Noticia Dei et nostri, quae nobis in divinis. scripturis proponitur. (Melles, Albertus pighius,42, n. 5). For further information pighiu on the Latin text of s, Free Choicesee n. 6 above. 55
then, it might appear that at least here the two theologians are standing on common
ground. After all, Calvin's rule of authority was sola Scriptura.
At the same time, Pighius wants to give due credit to the potential of human reason.
He sharply criticizes Luther - and by implication also Calvin - for making reason a
stumbling block in faith's way.16 So far as Pighius is concemed, what is to be believed ought also to be comprehended, or at least comprehensible. Following through with that logic, Pighius' repeated charge against Luther and Calvin is that their teaching on the human will simply does not resound with common sense.tt In fact. the entire fourth book of Pighius' Free Choice is taken up by his exposition of what he calls the four
"absurdities" of Calvin's teaching on the human will.ls In this way pighius is requiring
Calvin to demonstrate that his doctrine of the human will is not only Scriptural but also logical.re
For his part, Calvin refuses to meet that demand. In fact, he turns the tables on
Pighius and accuses him of ignoring the inspired warning of the apostle paul in
I corinthians 1-3 against relying on worldly wisdom.2O He writes:
See how Paul declares that the first foundation of spiritual wisdom is to know that worldly wisdom is reduced to nothing. Now let pighius spew out against fPaul] his bilious charge that he wants to pluck out the eyes of people's minds, to make them like brute beasts, to treat them worse ihan idiots! . . . For there is no kind of spell more dangerous in its ability to bewitch than confidence in one's own wisdom.2T
'" ratio adfidem semper sit obstaculo. Eam, solius Dei opus esse, rqtionem vero, ad ea suae /idei sunr' caecam, mortuam et velut stipitem. (Melles, Albertus pighius,44, n. 3g). 't Calvin, Bondage and Liberation of the Witt,24.
't Cf. the rebuttal to these four absurdities in Calvin, Bondage and Liberation of the Wilt,137-70. This demand 'n for logical cogency reminds one of Hoitenga's approach (see pp. l5ff. above). to Calvin, Bondage and Liberation of the Wilt,24-25. '' Calvin, Bondage and Liberation of the Wilt,25. 56
Thus, there is a difference between Pighius and Calvin on the fundamental question of authority. The former gives significantly more authority to the deductions of human
reason than the latter is willing to concede. Since they do not see eye-to-eye on the value of "worldly wisdom," it is hardly surprising that they also do not agree on numerous
aspects of the doctrine of the human will.
The Human Will: Extinct or Extant?
As Pighius sees it, if Calvin's statements are drawn through to their logical conclusion,
human beings would be left without a will. According to him, Calvin turns liberty into
necessity.22 Furthermore, there is nothing of value within the human spirit - no ability to love or to long for righteousness, nor any faculty with which to aspire to or prepare for
God's gtace.'3 In short, Pighius feels that Calvin stresses the sovereignty of God to the
point that the human will becomes an endangered, if not an extinct, species.
Calvin counters this accusation by making the three-fold distinction which he already
included in his Institutes2a and which he had borrowed from Bernard of Clairvaux. In his own words:
For in relation to the present issue, following Bernard I proposed three things for consideration: to will per se, that [, simply to wiir; then to will badly; and [to will] well.... Having defined these three things, I had taught that the will is perpetually resident in our nature, that the evil condition of the will results from the comrption of that nature, and that by the regeneration of the Spirit the evil condition is corrected and in that way the will is made good instead of evil.25
22 ex libertatefecisse necessitcttem. (Melres, Arbertus pighius,46, n. 5g). " neque amorem, desyderium, aut stadium iustitiae, aut ullamfacultatem qut praeparandi aspirandi nos ad divinam gratiam' nec eidem cooperandi aut collaborandi. (Mellis, 5e). Albertis iighius, a6, n. -)4 ^ , . Lalvrn. lnstitures,2.3.5. See also pp.23ff. above. " Calvin, Bondage and Liberation of the Wilt,20g. 57
In order to further clarify his position, Calvin also makes use of the scholastic distinction
between substance and habit. The Schoolmen taught, for instance, that someone may
have a penchant for evil thoughts; nevertheless, that same person still possesses the
faculty of thought as such. John Calvin makes the same point conceming the will. The
faculty (substance) of willing has been retained, even after the fall. Therefore, it is
extant' However, quality the (habit) of willing has been irreparably corrupted, unless the
Holy Spirit graciously renews it.26
Libertas in Externis
Closely related to the question of whether the will has survived the fall is the question of how the will functions in earthly, civil affairs, the so-calle d libertas in externis. This
somewhat obscure doctrine does not figure prominently in the pighius-Calvin debate;27
however, it is still worth noting. The Lutherans had included the libertas in externis in their Augsburg Confession of 1530. The opening line of Article 1g reads, ,.Concerning
free will they [the Lutherans] teach that the human will has some freedom for producing civil righteousness and for choosing things subject to reason."28 Interestingly, Calvin readily voices his assent to this Lutheran formulation.tn Mo.eorrer, pighius
acknowledges that both Luther and Calvin allow for a freedom of the will concemins
'u Calvin, Bondage and Liberation of the Wiil,209_10. "w1at they lthe natural powers of human -- - .'?? beings] can do in public affairs and outward behaviour he [Melanchthon] did not want to discuss in too much detail, because it is not of great importance for faith.,, Calvin, Bondage and Liberation of the Witt,29. 28 For the full text of this article of the Augsburg Confession, as well as further details on see this doctrine, Appendix 2,"Libertas in Externis,, on pp.-126ff. below. 'o "Euen in those matters which I have declared to be not so necessary for faith there is no difference [among calvin' Luther and MgtSnchthon], apart fiom the softeninj titn. ro.r of expression remove anything so as to dispreasing." carvin, Bondage and Liberation o/tne l,yirt,29. 58
external things, a position which he himself also holds.3O Unlike the rest of the
disputation, then, this is a rare - and not insignificant - point of agreement between Pighius and Calvin.
The Human will: Free, Bound, serf-determined or coerced?
It is clear where Pighius stands on the status of the human will after the fall into sin. For
him it is free to aspire to either evil or good according to its own desires.3l It is also
obvious how Pighius understands his opponent's view of the will. He charges that Calvin, like Luther, teaches a will that is forcefully coerced by God's sovereignty into
doing whatever it is that the will does.32 Moreover, since the will does much that is evil"
Pighius maintains that Luther and Calvin tum God into the Author of all evil.33
Calvin, however, denies that there are only two options, a free will or a coerced will.
Instead he introduces two more options which fall between the extremes of freedom and
coercion - a self-determined will and a bound will:
It is appropriate to note how the following four [claims] differ from one another: namely that the will is free, bound, self-determined, or coerced. People generally understand a free will to be one which has it in its power to choose good pighius or evil, and also defines it in this way. There can be no such thing as a coerced will, since the two ideas are contradictory. But our responsibility as teachers requires that we say what it means, st that it may be understood what coercion is. Therefoie we describe [as coerced] the will which does not incline this way or that of its own accord or by an internal movement of decision, but is forcibly driven by an extemal impulse. We say that it is self-determined when of itseif it directs itself in the direction in which it is led, when it is not taken by force or
to Melles, Albertus pighius,22.
Pos'e nos velle bonum pro " nostro arbitrio, posse et non velle, et a voluntate cessare. posse nolle malum, posse etiam non norre, et a norendo cessare. (Melles, Arbertus pighius, 44, n. 37). t2 Pighius' described the Protestant position as one that teaches an inevitabilis unavoidable necessitas (an necessity) of ail things, incruding evir Meiles, liuir,rrii[ltirs,z+. 33 malorum omnium author, fons et scaturigo. (Meiles, Arbertus pighius, 45, n. 46). 59
dragged unwillingly. A bound will, finally, is one which because of its corruptness is held captive under the authority of evil desires, so that it can choose nothing but evil, even it if does so of its own accord and gladly, without being driven by any external impulse.3a
Statements such as these are of crucial importance for they illustrate that Calvin makes a
clear distinction between necessity and coercion. Due to the extent of their comrption,
fallen people sin necessarily but they are not coerced into sinning. Calvin elaborates on
this when he adds:
For we do not say that man is dragged unwillingly into sinning, but that because his will is comrpt he is held captive.r.ra". the yoke oisin and therefore of necessity wills in an evil way. For where ihere is bondage, there is necessity. But it makes a greatdifference whether the bondalge is voluntary or coerced. we locate the necessity to sin precisely in corruption of the will, from which it follows that it is self-deiermined.3s
Throughouthis Bondage and Liberation of the Will, Calvinreinforces this point again
and again: the human will is not violently coerced by God against its own inclination;
rather, it is bound to sin by its own self-imposed slavery.36 Consequently, God is entirely
exonerated. He is not the Author of human evil.
Original Sin
Yet if Calvin teaches that the unregenerate will is bound to iniquity by a self-imposed
slavery to sin, then .,self,? it must also be asked: who precisely is this Is it each
individual person or is it really Adam? For if all people are conceived and born in sin. as
'" Calvin, Bondage and Liberation of the Wilt, 69 . tt Calvin, Bondage and Liberation of the Witt,69_70. 36.Further examples of acts which are both necessary and voruntariry include: l) God acting necessarily good, but yet-voluntarily;_2) the devil acting necessariry evil, but yet voruntariry. See Calvin, Bondage and Liberation of the lltill, 147-4g. 60
Calvin already taught in his 1536 Institutes,3T thenhow can it be said that everyone is
voluntarily bound to sinful desires? Thus, here the doctrine of original sin comes to the fore.
Albert Pighius downplays the significance and severity of Adam and Eve,s original
sin' For example, he writes, "Even as God, in his probationary command, was content
with a trifling obedience from the Paradise-man, so also the paradise-sin is not the cause
of the universal corruption of the human nature."38 What, then, is the effect of Adam,s
sin, according to Pighius? He teaches that original sin has deprived all Adam,s
descendants of the supernatural gifts which would have made the human nature even
better and more perfect than it was originally created. In particular it has deprived them of the gift of immortality.3e However, in the opinion of pighius, the sin in paradise
certainly did not take away the freedom of the human will.a'
Calvin has a radically different conception of both the significance and the severity of original sin. Reducing ,.I it to its most concise form, Calvin declares: teach that the
whole of human nature is corrupt."4l However, with equal f-ervour he pronounces that it was not so at creation:
we hold that Adam was certainly created according to the image of God and adorned with remarkable gifts of righteousnessl futh, and wisdom.
'' John calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion I536 Ed.,trans. Ford Lewis Battles (Grand Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1975),16. Rapids: 38 As quoted in Melles,.l/b ertus Pighius. 194; English translation mine. Unfortunately, Melles does not provide the original Latin of PighiuJ' statement. ..Zoals Ho*euer, his Dutch translation reads: God in het proefgebod tevreden was met een geringe gehoorzaamheid'van a. pu.uai;r-nr en (exiguum mertirum), zo is de paradijszonde nog geen oorzaak uun JgJ'."n bederf van de menselijke natuur.,, 3e non naturam, sed gratiam, aut donum supernaturale abstulit, quocl meliorem perfectioremque quqm in se fuerat, naturam.fecerat: ex mortari immoitarem.... (Melres, ,citirtu, pighius, 47, n. 69). ao tota natura hominis non adeo corrupta est, ut plane perierit pighius, nobis universa libertas arbitrii.... (Melles, Albertus 47, n. 69). o'Calvin, Bondage and Liberation of the Witt. 175. 61
with the added assurance that not only he but all his descendants would live in this state if he continued in the innocence which he had received. But he did not long remain in it, and so, because of his ingratitude, he was stripped of those gifts and thus was deprived of that likeness to God and put on a new image. Being made subject to ignorance, weakness, unrighteousnels, and vanity, and having sunk-into such wretchedness he also involved his offspring in it.a2
In this way calvin brings to the fore another important distinction - namely, that between the natura in integritate (the created nature) and the natura in miseria(the fallen nature).
In both states of nature the will exists. However, in the original state the will only
desired good. subsequently, in the fallen state, the will only desires evil, unless it is
acted upon by the grace of the Holy Spirit. If only this fundamental distinction would be carefully observed, then it would bring so much more clarity into the discussion; alas,
calvin complains, both the church Fathersa3 and Pighiusaa frequently confuse the two.
The Grace of God: Sovereign and Efficacious or Co-operative and Contingent?
Both Pighius and calvin affirm the need for God's grace in order for sinners to be saved.
The differences between the two lie in to what extent divine grace is required and, in what manner it actually works. Pighius' starting point was the well-known scholastic dictum: facienti quod in se est non clenegat gratiam,that is, God will not deny his grace to those who, from their side, do as much as they possibly can.or Thus, for pighius God,s grace and the human will are bound together in a co-operative venture.46 In this divine-human
-' Calvin, Bondage and Liberation of the l4/ill, 46_47 . ot Calvin, Bondage ancl Liberation of the Wilt, g5_g6. oo Calvin, Bondage and Liberation of the Will, 92_93. ot Cf. Melles, Albertus pighius, 195.
sine voluntate' nec voluntatem *, {::.r'atiam sine gratia quicquam operari.(Melles, Albertus pighius, ". 62
co-operation, God will supply whatever is lacking in the abilities of human beings.aT
However, in the final analysis, the efficacy of God's grace depends upon the willingness
of human beings to accept this divine kindness.a8 God offers mercy, but it is up to human beings whether or not they choose to make good use of that offer.
In stark contrast to Pighius' co-operative and contingent view of grace, calvin insists
that God's mercy is both sovereign and efficacious. Says calvin, "I consider that God
does not merely give man the option, so that he has the ability both to will and to act well
if it pleases him. But [God] effectively arouses [man's] heart, so that he wills, and [God] so guides it in its entirety that it does and completes by the action what has been granted
to it to will'"ae In fact, so efficacious is God's mercy that he will even accomplish his
gracious purposes in those who, of themselves, are unwilling to draw near to him. This directly opposes Pighius' stance, and it may also seem to fly in the face of common
sense' However, Calvin does not waver from his position because he is convinced it is Scriptural:
He promises [God] through Isaiah that he will be found by those who have not sought him, and that he will appear and show himserf to those who were not concemed to know him [Isa. 65: r ]. . . . But if you would like to know still better-how [God] does not wait until people come to him, but draws to himself those who are hostile and estrangea... ttren let us bring forward what paul reports about the Ephesians: c"oa displayed his merfr towards them, not when they stretched out their arms to welcome ^'L^'\'him, butv when, dead in sins and trespasses, they served in Satanls ".-;.r Yet as this point the spectre of coercion might easily return. Does calvin mean to say that people are dragged against their will -..kicking and screaming,,, as it were _ into the
-' quod nostris viribus deest, sua gratia supprel. (Meiles, Arbertus pighius,ag, n. 9g). a8 nec adiuvari potest, nisi qui ariquid sponte conatur. (Melres, Arbertus pighius,40, n. 100) oo Calvin, Bondage and Liberation of the Wilt, 177. to Calvin, Bonclage and Liberation of the l4/ill, lg2. 63
bliss of etemal salvation? Not at all. For it is precisely the will of human beings upon which God's grace works, tuming the stony heart into a heart of flesh so that regenerate
human beings themselves begin to will what they ought to will.sl Moreover, God does not work the grace of conversion by some kind of oppressively brute force but throush
Spirit-empowered preaching of the gospel.52
Seeking the Support of the Fathers
Both Pighius and calvin are keen to claim support from the church Fathers for their own position' Pighius' Free choice and,calvin's Bondage and Liberation of the will areboth filled with a large and wide variety of patristic quotations. However, the chief point that Pighius wishes to make is that all of the church Fathers - fiom Ireneaus to Augustine, including both Greek and Latin theologians - speak of the free will.53 Therefore, the
theologian of Kampen finds it both absurd and arrogant that John calvin chooses not to
use this time-tested terminology but rather speaks of the enslaved will. Who does Calvin think he is to deny the nearly universal consensus of the early church?
Pighius also demonstrates that he does not hastily paint all thepatreswith the same brush' He is sensitive to the historicar context in which they worked. Especially conceming Augustine, Pighius carefully distinguishes among three categories of his writings: l) his early, anti-Manichaean treatises; 2) his later, anti-pelagian tracts; and 3) his final books, written after the fire of the Pelagian controversies had abated, towards the end of his life'sa Pighius acknowledges that during the second period, in his doctrinal
t' Calvin, Bondage and Liberation of the Witt, 174. t'Caluin, Bondage and Liberation of the Witt, 163_64. tt Melles, Albertus pighius,3l. t' Pighius dedicates the entire third chapter of his Free Choiceto the writings of Augustine. 64
battles against the pelagians, Augustine stresses the grace of God with such
overwhelming fervour that the human will appears to be diminished. However. he
attributes this to a misguided rhetorical excess on Augustine's part. pighius then goes on
to suggest that in his later years, after the dust of the battle had settled, Augustine spoke
with more caution and renewed favour conceming the freedom of the human will.55
Thus, Pighius concludes that even though Augustine altered his opinion about the will during certain times in his life, in the end, the most prolific theologian of antiquity agreed with the patristic consensus and affirmed the freedom of the will.
Undaunted by the vast array of ancient authorities that Pighius marshals against him,
calvin not only stands his ground, but he endeavours to bring the majority of them over onto his side of the debate. Calvin works through the same list of Fathers that pighius
gave, and along the way he indicates that when many of them speak about the freedom of the will, they are actually speaking about the natura in integritate.s6 Of course, Calvin has no argument with that, for he, too, affirms that Adam and Eve were given a free will at creation.
Then, regarding the terminology, calvin does indeed regret that the church Fathers frequently use the term "free will." However, it is not the term so much as the meanins behind the term that counts for him:
Now as far as the term [free will] is concerned I still maintain what I declared in my Institutes,that I am not so excessivery concemed about words as to want to start an argument for that.uur", p.o,rided that a sound understanding of reality is retained. If freedom is opposeJto coercion. I
-- Melles, Albertus pighius,3l.
Laf vrn. Uondage and Liberation of the lyill, 70_g0. 65
both acknowledge and consistently maintain that choice is free. and I hold anyone who thinks otherwise to be a heretic.sT
However, since so many people, when they hear the term'ofree will," immediately think
that, despite the fall into sin, it nevertheless remains in their own power to choose for
etemal salvation, Calvin wishes not to use the term.s8
When the discussion tums to Augustine, Calvin becomes more passionate about his favourite Father. He flatly denies that Pighius can claim Augustine for his side. He is
willing to accept Pighius' division of Augustine's writings into three groups. yet he is
opposed to Pighius' interpretation of the second group - namely, that Augustine lost sight of the orthodox understanding of the will due to the heat of his battle with the pelagians.
On the contrary, Calvin asserts that "after the end of the controversy he did not hold a
different opinion from what he had held at the time of writing."se Next, using a veritable
litany of citations, Calvin sets forth his position that Augustine taught that the human will
was free, but only in the sense that under the natura in miseriathe will is free to do evil
voluntarily that - is to say, the will is not externally coerced into sinning.60 With this kind of definition of "free" Calvin himself has no quibble. In fact, he wholeheartedly agrees with it. Therefore, he concludes, "we cannot be deprived of the fact that
Augustine is on our side.,,6l
" Cafvin, Bondage and Liberation of the Wilt,6g. tt Cafvin, Bondage and Liberation of the Witt,6g. 'o calvin, Bondage and Liberarion pighius, of the will,g0. Like the pelagians had also accused Augustine^ of changing his opinion abouithe human will. Howiver, see pp. 43f. above concerning the Retractions in which Augustine himself also maintains that his basic teachings on the human will did change throughout his Iife. uo Calvin, Bondage and Liberation of the Wiil,135. u' Calvin, Bondage and Liberation of the Witt. 136. 66
Finally, Calvin adds one more weighty ancient authority to the list: the Council of
Orange (52g). The third canon of that council pronounces: "If anyone afftrms that it is possible to think or choose by natural strength any good thing which has to do with etemal life, that is, to assent to the preaching [of the gospel] without the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit who gives to all their delight in assenting and believing, then he is deceived by a heretical spirit."62 In addition to this, the next canon declares: "If anyone argues that God waits for our desire that we should be cleansed from sin, and does not acknowledge that it is by the work of the Holy Spirit in us that we are even caused to
want cleansing, he resists the Holy Spirit as he speaks through Solomon: The will is
prepared by the Lotd." Since Pighius promotes63 precisely what Orange condemns,
Calvin rhetorically asks, "Since he [Pighius] claims to give allegiance only to the church,
what escape route will he find now, when he is declared an enemy of the Holy Spirit by
an orthodox council?"64 Here Calvin uses his familiarity with the ecclesiastical councils
in order to land a signifrcant blow against his opponent. He correctly points out that
Pighius is standing, with both feet, outside the tradition of the church so long as he
maintains that the will is able to prepare itself for grace.
"' Calvin, Bondage and Liberation of the l,/ill, 189. u' See p. 56 n.23 above. Pighius laments the fact that Calvin's doctrine of the will does not leave fallen human beings with any faculty with which to aspire to or prepare for God's grace. oo Calvin, Bondage and Liberation of the Will, 106. 67
An Evaluation of the Debate
Having now completed a survey of the debate - what Pighius said and how Calvin responded - it is useful to offer an evaluation of the disputation. The same headings that were used in the summarv above will be followed in the evaluation below.
The Underlying Quesfion of Authority
Pighius and Calvin both appeal to Scripture in order to prove their points. Both theologians also use logical reasoning to argue their cases. So, it would be simplistic to
state that Pighius places all his confidence in human reason while Calvin relies solely on the divine Scriptures. The underlying question of authority must receive a more nuanced
answer than that. To begin with, Pighius' own personal history should be considered.
His undergraduate studies, as well as his early writings, focussed almost entirely on
astronomical and mathematical topics.6s It seems that Pighius had a keen analyical mind
which he was fond of using to penetrate the celestial mysteries of the heavens.
Yeq and this is Calvin's point, whereas human logic may be able to solve many
astronomic al puzzles, it is unable to provide the knowledge needed for a correct doctrine
of salvation, unless it is enlightened by divine revelation.6u Culrri.r uses the words of the
apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 1-3 to caution Pighius against overestimating the ability of
the human ratio. To be sure, theology uses reason in order to organize and advance its
o'See pp. 52f. above. uu See also Schulze, Calvin's Reply, 142-43. "Pighius was much more inclined towards a preconceived scheme. He logically deduced the existence of the free will from God's goodness and justice and ffom the presence of the law. Calvin rejected the rationalism of his opponent, which annihilates God's omnipotence and reduces him to a bare spectator of the world drama. Like Augustine he accepted the corrupted will of man as revealed in the Bible. The self-knowledge is a knowledge coram Deo, an anthropological revelation and not a rational theolosical deduction." 68 enterpdse. Neverlheless, the initial wellspring and the final authority of theology are the divine Scriptures, not human reason. Pighius' oft-repeated criticism of Calvin's teaching on the will is that it is "absurd" or "illogical."67 Such criticism misses the mark. If he wanted to criticize Calvin, what Pighius needed to demonstrate is where the Reformer's teaching became unscriptural.
To a certain degree, though, Calvin undermines his own exhortation about "worldly
wisdom" when he leans on the Aristotelian distinction between substance and accident to
explain how the human will is ruined but not exterminated by the fall into sin.68 In fact,
as A.N.S. Lane notes, Calvin ironically makes a greater than normal use of Greek
philosophy in the Bondage and Liberation of the Will ascompared to his other writings.6e
This does not mean, though, that in the end Calvin uses logical reasoning in much the
same way that Pighius does. For Calvin the bottom line is always what is Scriptural, not
what is logical.To Moreover, he would add, if it is not found in Scripture, then let mere
mortals restrain their curiosity. For instance, at one point in the debate, Pighius insists
that God must have some valid reason for granting his grace to one and not to the other.
Calvin replies, "God does indeed have a definite, real reason for what he does, but it is
too secret, sublime, and concealed for it to be grasped by the measure of our mind, which
ut Pighius' fourth book is mainly comprised of four major "absurdities" which he finds in Calvin's Institutes. See Calvin, Bondage and Liberation of the IryilL A2-65 for Calvin's response to each one. ut Calvin explains that the substance of the will was not eradicated by the fall, but the accident or quality of the will was certainly corrupted. See Calvin, Bondage and Liberation of the Will,46-47 - un Lane, "lntroduction," xxiv-xxvi. to Caluin, Bondage and Liberation of the Will,57-58. 69
is so narrow and mean."7l These words remind us of the counsel to remain humble which Augustine gave to Evodius some eleven centuries earlier.T2
The Human Will: Extinct or Extant?
Since the Protestants emphasized the complete sovereignty of God over everything,
Pighius logically deduced from this that they also reduced human beings into little more than brute animals without a will. Pighius perceived the Protestant paradigm as follows: if God's will necessarily controls everything, then the human will amounts to nothing.
To his credit, it must be said that Pighius could find some justification for his perceptions
in some of the more extreme statements that Luther had made concerning the will and necessity. The doctor of Wittenberg once averred that "free choice is something
imaginary, a name without substance" and that "all things happen by absolute
necessity."73 Especially the latter promulgation needs qualification lest it be understood
as a Protestant endorsement of Stoic fatalism.
For his part Calvin is aware of the problems that might arise from some of Luther's
more extreme expressions.T4 Therefore, without in any way undermining the main thrust
of Luther's teaching on the will, Calvin seeks to refrne his colleague's presentation of this
doctrine. In the Bondage and Liberation of the Will, even more so than in his Institutes,
the reformer of Geneva carefully maintains that, although all things happen under the
" Calvin, Bondage and Liberation of the Will, 191 . '7) - See^ D. J / aDove. 73 Both Pighius and Calvin refer to these statements from Luther in their own debate. See Bondage ctnd Liberation of the Will,26. to Calvin grants that Luther "exaggerates" when he used some of his more extreme expressions, but Calvin also explains that Luther's strong language was fitting for the circumstances within the church at that time. False teachings had lulled the church into such a "deadly drowsiness" that only "a trumpet call, a peal of thunder and thunderbolts" would awaken it. See Bondage and Liberation of the Will,26. 70 necessity of God's sovereignty, the Lord does not coerce anyone into wrongdoing.
Moreover, in addition to the distinction between necessity and coercion, Calvin goes on to apply the subtle, but significant, nuances of Bernard's instruction on the will - namely,
that to will is human, to will badly is of sin, and to will well is of grace. With these and
various other qualifications, Calvin credibly explains that awill in bondage to sin is,
nonetheless, still truly a human will. Perhaps Pighius' misunderstanding (or
misrepresentation?) of Calvin's position is due, at least in part, to the fact that he tended
to look at Calvin through the lens of Luther's writings. Although the two reformers did
not disagree in the substance of their beliefs on the human will, it is also true that Calvin
had the opportunity to refine some of the less nuanced statements of his older colleague
in Germany.tt In fact, Calvin freely admits that he is constantly striving to see how his
own teaching on the human will can be improved, both in its faithfulness to Scripture and
its comprehensibility for his readers.T6 Theology ought to progress, not petrify.
Libertas in Externis
Although the libertas in externis receives no more than a fleeting reference in both
Pighius' and Calvin's books, both theologians would have done well to dwell on it in
more detail. In the first place, the very fact that both Luther and Calvin readily accepted
tt Calvin, Bondage and Liberation of the Wilt,28-29. tu Calvin, Bondage and Liberation of the Wilt,28-29. "But why could we [the Reformers] not be allowed something that has been common practice of everyone in every generation? This too I recognize without reluctance, that when our works are reprinted we improve what was rather coarse, we soften what was too harshly expressed, we clarifu obscure points, we explain more fully and at greater length what was too compressed, we also strengthen our argument with new reasons, and finally, where we fear the danger of causing offence, we also tone down and soften our language. For what would be the point of living if neither age nor practice nor constant exercise nor reading nor meditation were of any benefit to us? And what would be the point of making progress if it did not result in some profit reaching others also? On the contrary, if Pighius does not know it, I should like it to be absolutely clear to him that we strive night and day to shape our faithfully transmitted teachings into a form which we also judge will be the best." 7l this doctrine clearly demonstrates that they did not annihilate the human will: according to the doctrine of libertas in externis, the will is most certainly alive and active in civil matters, also post lapsum. Secondly, this seemingly minor teaching has a major potential to take away some of the perceived absurdity of the Calvin's teaching concerning the bondage of the will. Calvin taught that human nature is totally comrpt. Upon hearing this, though, some people might react with a sense of astonishment. Do the innumerable
instances of charity and philanthropy, even among self-professed pagans, not demonstrate
that within the will of all human beings there resides at least some remnant that is good?
Without the libertas in externis it is difficult to answer such a question. With this
doctrine it is answered. As the Lutheran divines expressed it: "We confess that all human
beings have a free will that possesses the judgment of reason. It does not enable them,
without God, to begin - much less complete - anl.thing that pertains to God, but only to
perform the good or evil deeds of this life."77 Although Calvin's teaching on the total
corruption of the human nature is well-known, his acceptance of the libertas in externis is
rarely, if ever, mentioned. It would be helpful if scholars paid more attention to the latter.
The Human Will: Free, Bound, Self-determined or Coerced?
Proper definitions are practically indispensable. This applies in all forms of
communication, and especially within the context of a debate. Many theologians speak
of the "freedom of the will." However, the key question is, what is meant by that term?
At times Pighius and Calvin are speaking past each other because mentally they are
working with different definitions. When Pighius hears Calvin speak of the "enslaved
" From Article l8 of the Augsburg Confession. See Appendix 2 on pp. l26ff . for the full text of this confession. IL will," he immediately thinks of human beings locked in the chains of some kind of
Original Sin When it comes to the doctrine of original sin, Pighius wanders far away from the good pastures of sound doctrine. Such was the judgment even of his own Roman Catholic Church. Already the delegates at the Council of Trent (1545-1563) concluded that Pighius' teaching on the sin of Adam was beyond the pale of orthodoxy. Some decades later, his writings on this subject were also placed on the Index of Prohibited Books (Lisbon, 1624).7e Of course, this does not mean that the Roman Catholic Church would have agreed with everything that Calvin taught about original sin. Nevertheless, at least on this single issue Calvin's opponents concurred with him: the fall into sin had more devastating effects on the human nature than Pighius was willing to admit. The Grace of God: Sovereign and Efficacious or Co-operative and Contingent? Pighius wants to include both God and human beings in the program of salvation. Redemption must be, he insists, a matter of co-operation, otherwise God would be a callous and unjust deity who arbitrarily categorizes some unto eternal life and others unto t* Culuin, Bondage and Liberation of the Will, 69 . to Lane, "lntroduction," xvii. 73 eternal perdition.so Calvin also includes both God and human beings in the outworking of salvation; however, he will not abide any hint of co-operation between God and human beings. Redemption is all of God's grace and it is all unto God's glory. As L.F. Schulze explains, the key to understanding all of this is leaming to distinguish between the work of God and the work of human beings rather than dividing the work between them.8l Pighius uses the principle of division. Human beings do their part by aspiring unto righteousness, and then God also does his part by filling in what people are unable to do. Yet if the principle of distinction, rather than division, is embraced, then the dilemma is mitigated, at least somewhat. A case in point is Calvin's explanation of Philippian s 2:12, 1 3 : "Therefore, my dear friends. . . continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and act according to his good purpose." Pighius uses this passage - especially the command to "work out your salvation" - to undergird his opinion that the human will must contribute something in order to advance its own salvation. Calvin responds: For the question is not whether the will acts - which is beyond doubt - but whether it acts of itself or according to the measure of God's action'... For who is not aware that it is by means of the will that man wills? But Paul is affirming in that passage that the will is directed by the Spirit of God to turn to the good and seek after it, and,so any good which we conceive in our -ittdt is [God's] own doing.82 In this way Calvin carefully distinguishes between the action of the will itself and the gracious action of God upon the will as he directs it to seek that which is truly good. to Schulze, Calvin's Reply, 41-43. t' Schulze, Calvin's Reply, 59. tt Calvin, Bondage and Liberation of the Wilt,231. 74 Seeking the SupPort of the Fathers As Anthony Lane explains, Calvin's quotations of the Church Fathers ate at times too hasty and unduly inaccurate.83 Nevertheless, this can be partly excused by the circumstances under which Calvin was forced to work. Unlike Pighius, Calvin did not have the luxury of ample time and more than adequate library resources. On the contrary, Calvin wrote much of his material in a remarkably short span of time, quoting the Fathers, even at length, from memory.8a Furthermore, it must be conceded to Pighius that a cursory reading of the Church Fathers certainly leaves the impression that they heartily endorsed the freedom of the wi||, for they frequently and almost universally employ the term. At the same time, Calvin does well to ask the deeper question: "What did the Fathers actually mean with that term?" As many of the Fathers wrote, they were consciously countering some variety of Gnosticism or Manichaeanism, both of which had deterministic tendencies. These heresies also left members of the church with the impression that evil has always been inherent in all people, even at creation. Within this context, numerous Church Fathers expounded the freedom of the will in order to teach people that they could not blame their sins on the Creator; rather, they were responsible for their own sins, for they had sinned freely, that is, voluntarily. Calvin strove to understand the Fathers within that context. Whatever mistakes he may have made in citations, it is being increasingly *t Lane. "lntroduction." xxiii-xxiv. t' Lane. "lntroduction." xxi-xxiv. IJ acknowledged that concerning the human will he did understand the main thrust of the patristic teachings accurately, including those of his beloved mentor, Augustine.8s Summary The Significance of the Debate The fire of a controversy often purifres the expression of doctrine. Such was the case with the dispute between Albert Pighius and John Calvin. The Bondage and Liberation of the Will, Calvin's contribution to this debate, provides additional explanations and valuable qualifrcations of the doctrine of the will which he had already expounded in his well-known Ins t itut e s. One thing that comes into sharper focus is the urgent need for careful definition of theological terminology. What are the "natural" abilities of the human will? As Calvin constantly reiterates, the answer to that question depends on whether the "nature" being referred to is created or fallen or redeemed. Is the fallen will still "free" or "enslaved"? Again, the controversy with Pighius demonstrates that "freedom" can be either "freedom o'enslaved" from coercion" or "freedom to choose for God's grace." Likewise, can denote "slavery to evil, inner passions" or "slavery to forceful, extemal compulsion." How these terms are defined has a determinative impact on how the whole doctrine of the human will is developed. *t Lane, "lntroduction," xxiv. "An influential essay by the Benedictine Odilo Rottmanner in the nineteenth century marked a new willingness by the Roman Catholics to admit that in the areas of grace and predestination the Reformers were largely justified in their appeal to Augustine. A few notes indicate areas where Calvin's interpretation of Augustine is open to question, but it is very widely conceded today that the main thrust is accurate." 76 In addition to this, the longer Pighius and Calvin spar over the doctrine of the will, the more other central doctrines are brought into the whole discussion. The condition of the human will cannot be accurately assessed without a proper understanding of original sin. Moreover, if the impact of the fall on the will is minimized, then the need for God's redemptive grace is also diminished. Furtherrnore, if the need for grace is reduced, so is the work of Christ. However, if the human will is annihilated - crushed by a deterministic explanation of God's providence - then the holiness of God is endangered by the implication that he is the source of evil. All of this indicates how vitally important a proper understanding of the human will is. Error concerning the doctrine of the will has ramifi cations for theolo gy, hamartiology, Chri stolo gy and soteriology. An extensive debate can also force the opponents to explore subjects that otherwise would not likely receive attention. This is particularly true for the teaching of the Augsburg Confession on the libertas in externis. This is not a topic that Calvin gives much attention in the Institutes, For that matter, neither does he give it much of his time in the Bondage and Liberation of the Will. Yet in the heat of the debate it does come out, and its appearance is significant. The libertas in externis gives an adequate account of how unregenerate people can aspire to morally lofty goals. What is more, the doctrine accomplishes this without compromising the sovereignty and all-sufficiency of God's grace. Another Look at Hoitenga This fine-tuning of Calvin's doctrine of the will, which took place during his polemics with Pighius, also provides an opportunity to give more refined responses to some of Hoitenga's critical remarks. As noted earlier, Hoitenga feels that Calvin does 77 not retain enough of the natural abilities of the will after the fall into sin.86 Yet what precisely are these "natural" abilities? Here is where careful attention to terminology becomes crucial. Hoitenga argues that an "inclination to goodness" is a natural component of the will, even after the fall.87 However, Calvin maintains that while the ability to choose belongs to the human nature both before and after the fall, the will's inherent inclination toward goodness was natural in the created state, lost in the fallen state and is restored in the redeemed state. Thus Hoitenga and Calvin have different things in mind when they use the word "natural." A similar terminological issue arises conceming "freedom." Hoitenga is disturbed by the title of the second chapter in the second book of the Institutes - namely, "Man Has Now Been Deprived of Freedom of Choice and Bound Over to Miserable Servitude." Concerning this heading he protests, "Deprived of free choice? With no difference between a corrupted choice and no choice at all?"88 Again, the dispute with Pighius brings into sharp focus the fact that Calvin did make distinctions among phrases such as "no freedom whatsoever," "freedom from coercion" and "the freedom to choose for God's grace." Consequently, whereas Hoitenga draws rather rapid conclusions from the simple wording in one of Calvin's titles, he should have spend more time delving into the nuances of the word "freedom" which Calvin expounds at greater length in his Bondage and Liberation of the Will. Hoitenga also desires a doctrine of the will which can properly account for the moral struggle between good and evil in which all human beings have been engaged ever since tu See p. 13 above. tt Hoitenga, John Calvin and the I'l/ill,73-74. tt Hoitenga, John Calvin and the Witl,74. 78 the fall. In his estimation Calvin does not provide such an account. He writes, "But on his fCalvin's] account of the fallen will, as I have detailed it so far, the entire human history of moral conflict between good and evil, let alone its vivid portrayal in literature and studious examination by pagan philosophers, is a chimera."8e However, in his refutation of Pighius, Calvin does not disparage the human moral struggle as a "chimera." On the contrary, he affirms it and identifies it as part of the libertas in externis, which teaches that "the human will has some freedom for producing civil righteousness and for choosing things subject to reason."e0 In other words, Calvin does in fact acknowledge the very thing that Hoitenga finds so utterly lacking in his treatment of the will. Granted, the libertas in externis is hard to find in Calvin's writings. It is only mentioned briefly in both his Instituteset and the Bondage and Liberation of the Will. Therefore, it is not entirely surprising that Hoitenga overlooks it. Nevertheless, it is there, and since the crux of the sixteenth century debate was the freedom of the will ro choose for eternal salvation, not the freedom of the will in earthly or extemal matters, it is also understandable that Calvin did not devote more time to it. Finally, the polemics between Pighius and Calvin reveal that there is a more fundamental issue at stake in the debate over the human will - namely, the place of human reason in the development of the church's doctrines. Logical analysis is a remarkable gift that humankind possesses. However, as Calvin insists and demonstrates, reason must be enlightened by, and submissive to, the divine revelation of Scripture if it is to be of any aid in theological pursuits. Perhaps this partially explains why Pighius, in t' Hoitenga, John Calvin and the \ryiil, gO. no This is how the doctrine is confessed in the eighteenth article of the Augsburg Confession. See Appendix 2, pp. l26ff below for more details. n' Calvin, Institutes,2.2.5 where he speaks about the fieedom of the will "for civil or external actions." 79 his time, and Hoitenga, more recently, have difficulties with Calvin's position on the human will. Both of them exhibit a strong philosophical bent.e2 Moreover, since the Pighius-Hoitenga starting point is, for the most part, logical reasoning, while Calvin repeatedly begins with inspired revelation, they also end up with different conclusions conceming the human will. Until the starting points are aligned, there is little hope that the terminal points will coincide. n' See p. 52 andp. 6 above, respectively. CHAPTER FIVE CALVIN & THE RADICAL REFORMATION CONCERNING THE HUMAN WILL In the preface to his first theological treatise, Psychopannychia (1534), John Calvin writes that it was the Anabaptists who were propagating the erroneous doctrine of soul sleep.l He condemns them with strong language, referring to them as a "nefarious herd... against whom nothing I have said equals their deserts."' T*o years later, when Calvin published the first edition of his Institutes, the Anabaptists are again mentioned by name in the dedicatory preface to King Francis I. Obviously, Calvin's evaluation of this group had not softened in the interim, for he explains to the king that "[Satan] aroused disagreements and dogmatic contentions through his Catabaptists and other monstrous rascals in order to obscure and at last extinguish the truth."3 From the start, then, Calvin's theology was shaped within the context of, and in conflict with, Anabaptist ' It should be noted, however, that also Luther taught that the soul sleeps until God awakens it on the last day. On this topic see Timothy George, "Calvin's Psychopannychia: Another Look," in Papers from the I 986 International Calvin Symposium, ed. E.J. Furcha (Montreal: McGill University, I 987), 3 I 0- I I . t John Calvin, "Psychopannychia," in Tracts & Treatises of John Calvin, trans. Henry Beveridge (Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers,2002), 3:416. Calvin wrote the first edition of his Psychopannychia in 1534. This edition was never published. A second edition, written in Basel in 1536, may have been printed, but this is uncertain. The final edition was published in 1542 in Strasbourg and later again in Geneva in 1545. Cf. George H. Tavard, The Starting Point of Calvin's Theologt (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2000), 1. t Calvin, Institutes (t 536), 12. "Catabaptists" is an epithet that Calvin and other reformers used in speaking about the Anabaptists. Whereas "unu-" (Gk. ovo; again) pertains to the practice of rebaptizing those who had already been baptized as infants, "cata-" (Gk. xoro; with acc. against) refers to Anabaptists' rejection of infant baptism. 81 teachings. Therefore, A.A. Van Ruler poses the right question when he asks, "ls not the Anabaptist movement just as significant as our consideration of the teachings of Rome in our analysis of the Reformation?"4 Also, we may hasten to add, the Anabaptist movement is just as significant as the teachings of Rome as we consider the theology of John Calvin.s Having said that, though, a problem of identity and dehnition immediately arises. Who are these "Anabaptists"? The title itself suggests that their distinctive lies with their convictions concerning the sacrament of baptism. Thus, it is commonly said, Anabaptists are the ones who eschewed infant baptism and embraced believers' baptism instead. However, such a definition of Anabaptism is a woefully inadequate and monolithic portrayal of the Radical Reformation in the sixteenth century. G.H. Williams sums it up well when he says, "This Radical Reformation was a loosely interrelated congeries of reformations and restitutions."6 Similarly, Donald Smeeton adds his perspective to the matter when he describes the term "Anabaptist" as "a stretch garment which covers a multitude of movements which were not evident descendants of Calvin or Luther."7 Some of the radicals withdrew from society and lived off by themselves in communes, while others remained part of the mainstream. Some were dedicated students of the Bible, but others preferred to rely on extra-scriptural, personal revelations from the Spirit. In short, it is not possible to pin down one specific set of beliefs and behaviours and to * As quoted in Willem Balke, Calvin and the Anabaptist Radicals,trans. William J. Heynen (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1981),9. 5 In fact G.H. Tavard concludes that Calvin's first polemical engagement with the Anabaptists, over the issue of soul sleep, set the course and tone of much of his later, moie mature theology. Aithough he may be overstating his case to a degree, his main thesis is nonetheless credible. See Taiard, The Starting Poinr, 190-91. " u George H. Williams, The Radical Reformation(Philadelphia: Westminster press, 1962), xxiv. 7 Donald D. Smeeton, "Calvin's Conflict with the Anabaptists," Evangelical euarterly 54 (19g2):46. 82 identify it as "Anabaptism." Instead, beside what is often called "the Magisterial Reformation," there was also a wide assortment of other ecclesiastical renovators and renovations which, for lack of a better term, are best collected under the heading of "the Radical Reformation." In an effort to establish some sense of order among the vast variety of radical reformers, G.H. Williams divides the movement into three main categories: the Anabaptists, the Spiritualists and the Evangelical Rationalists.S Strictly speaking, then, the Anabaptists are comprised of groups such as the Swiss Brethren and the Dutch Mennonites, who were led by the likes of Conrad Grebel and Menno Simons, respectively. The Spiritualists typically placed more emphasis on mystical meditations and personal revelations. The Loists of the Netherlands and the Libertines of France, to whom we shall retum shortly, belong to this larger class of spiritualizers. Finally, the Rationalists, more so than other radicals, held human reason in high esteem, to the point that they began to doubt the admittedly inexplicable doctrine of the Trinity as the catholic church had confessed it already for centuries in the Nicene Creed. Perhaps the most famous, or infamous, of the Rationalists was Michael Servetus. However, there were more, many of whom traced their roots back to Italy, including Matthew Gribaldi and Laelius Socinus. Calvin's Understanding of the Radical Reformation How well did John Calvin understand and identify all these distinctions amons the radical reformers? Williams himself is not impressed with Calvin's diligence on this t Williams, Radical Reformation, xxiv. 83 point. "We have already noted," he says, "that Calvin did not clearly distinguish among his opponents. The psychopannychists against whom he wrote in Orleans in 1534 were, in his mind, much the same as those whom he later called Libertines and Anabaptists."v F.H. Littell is even more pessimistic about Calvin's knowledge of the radicals. He writes, "John Calvin (1509-1564) was also among those whose writings lent misunderstanding to the study of the Anabaptists. Among widely read authors, probably none understood less about them."l0 At the opposite end of the spectrum, Lois Beachy, who is a Mennonite, offers the following evaluation: In Calvin's writings he deals with the Anabaptists in an exceptionally fair manner for his times. In the chief point of disagreement, the nature of the church, his criticisms go to the heart of the matter. So, though he certainly wastes no love on the Anabaptists, one must conclude that he is fair and adequate in his writings against them.rr What should be made of these widely divergent assessments? In the first place, it is true that when Calvin initially began writing against the Anabaptists in 1534 he had had very little personal contact with them. He also openly admits this in the preface to his Psychopannychia.t2 However, for this budding theologian the heterodox teaching of soul sleep was sufficiently serious to warrant picking up his pen, regardless of how much personal knowledge he had ofhis opponents. As time went on, though, Calvin's contact with Anabaptists increased considerably. During the first part of his ministry in Geneva (1536-1538) Calvin, along with his n Williams, Radical Reformation, 598. r0 As quoted in Balke, Calvin and the Anabaptist Radicals, T; see n. 44. rl As quoted in Benjamin Wirt Farley, "Editor's Introduction," in Treatises Against the Anabaptists and Against the Libertines (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1982), 3 1 . 12 "They [the Anabaptists] are said to circulate their follies in a kind of Tracts, which I have never happened to see. I have only received some notes from a friend, who had taken down what he had cursorily heard ffom their lips, or collected by some other means." Calvin, Pscyhopannychia,4l4. 84 colleague Farel, refuted Anabaptist preachers who came to the city from the Lowlands. For instance, on March29, 1537, Calvin engaged in a public disputation with two Anabaptists from Li6ge, Jean Bomeromenus and Jean Stordeur. '' Th.n, when he moved to Strasbourg, Calvin had even more interaction with a greater number of radical reformers. For the duration of his stay there, from 1538 to 1541, he was actively involved in converting various kinds of Anabaptists and bringing them into the Reformed congregations of that city.l4 In fact, Theodore Beza notes that Calvin was successful "in bringing back many Anabaptists to the right path."r5 Finally, and perhaps most significantly, in August of 1540, John Calvin was wed to Idelette de Bure, who was herself formerly an Anabaptist.l6 Ironically, she was also the widow of Jean Stordeur, the Anabaptist with whom Calvin debated in Geneva and whom he later converted to the Reformed faith in Strasbourg. Therefore, seeing that Calvin was extensively involved in converting Anabaptists, and that he was even married to a converted Anabaptist, there is little evidence to support Littell's claim that Calvin was gravely deficient in his understanding of the radical reformation. Rather, all indications point in the direction of Beachy's assessment - namely, that Calvin was "fair and adequate in his writings against them." All of the above-mentioned contact between Calvin and the radical reformers took place before he wrote his two main treatises against them: Brief Instructionfor Arming '' Balke, Calvin and the Anabaptist Radicals,82-83. 'o Balke, Calvin and the Anabaptist Radicals,l2B-33. 15 Theodore Beza, "Life of John Calvin," in Calvin's Tracts & Treatises.trans. Henry Beveridee (Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers,2002), l:xxxvi. 'u "The understanding of the Anabaptists that Calvin must have acquired through his marriage to Idelette de Bure, the widow of the Walloon Anabaptist, Jean Stordeur, was of considerable importance." Balke, Calvin and the Anabaptist Radicals. 133. 85 Alt the Good Faithfut Against the Eruors of the Common Sect of the AnabaptistslT and Against the Fantastic and Furious Sect of the Libertines Who Are Called "Spirituals."LB In the introductionto Against the Anabaplisrs Calvin demonstrates his nuanced knowledge of the radicals as he carefully distinguishes between their "two principal sects."le The first group may be full of "many perverse and pernicious errors,"20 but they receive the Holy Scriptures as the inspired Word of God. Since this is the case, Calvin at least feels that there is a common basis upon which doctrine and piety can be debated and decided. This group corresponds to what G.H. Williams has identified as "the Anabaptist wing" of the radical reformation. However, the second faction does not even acknowledge the Scriptures as the only rule of authority, thereby leading itself astray, as Calvin says, into a labyrinth of absurd views.2l Geneva's reformer calls them "the Libertines," and this group is subsumed within what Williams terms "the Spiritualizers." It is with good reason that Calvin speaks about these groups in two separate treatises. Their doctrinal and ethical standpoints vary so greatly that individual attention is warranted for each one. The doctrine of the human will is one example of difference between them. Towards the end of his introductionto Against the Anabapfrs/s Calvin writes, "Moreover, on several principal points of Christianity, they agree closely with the " Bri"r" instruction pour armer tous bons fideles contre les erreurs de la secte commune des Anabaptistes (Geneva: Jean Girard, 1544). Hereafter referred to simply as Against the Anabaptisls. The English translation of this treatise is: John Calvin, Treatises Against the Anabaptists and Against the Libertines, trans. Benjamin Wirt Farley (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1982). 18 Contre la secte phantastique etfurieuse des Libertins que se nommerl Spirituelz (Geneva: Jean Girard, 1545). Hereafter referred to simply as Against the Libertines. The English translation of this treatise is: John Calvin, Treatises Against the Anabaptists and Against the Libertines, trans. Benjamin Wirt Farley (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1982). 'n Calvin, Against the Anabaptists,3g. 'n Calvin, Against the Anabaptists,3g. tt Calvin, Against the Anabaptists,40. 86 papists, holding a view directly repugnant to all the holy Scripture - as with free will, predestination, and the cause of our salvation."22 Remarkably, though, whereas the Anabaptists affirmed the freedom of the will, the Libertines held to such a fatalistic view of God's providence that Calvin feels compelled to confute them by strongly asserting the ongoing existence of the human will after the fall into sin. Consequently, on the one side Calvin is disproving the liberty of the will against radical reformers who are synergistic in their soteriology, but on the other side he is defending the reality of the will against other radicals who are deterministic in their theology. In order to further sharpen our understanding of Calvin's doctrine of the will, we will follow his lead and look at each group separately. Galvin and the Anabaptists The larger part of Calvin's Treatise against the Anobapllsls contains a denunciation of various articles of the Schleitheim Confession of 1527.23 Not surprisingly, the topics that arise are baptism, the ban, the magistrate and the oath, as well as supplementary sections on the incarnation of Christ and the state of souls after death. The freedom of the will is not included among the Schleitheim articles of faith. Therefore, Calvin does not deal with this doctrine in his treatise, other than a passing reference in his introductory comments, as noted above. Since, in his estimation, the Anabaptists and the papists held the same position on the will, it can be surmised that Calvin would have argued against the Anabaptists along the same lines as he had already disputed with Albert Pighius in his " Calvin, Against the Anabaptists, 43. t' The Schleitheim Confession is one of the few creedal statements coming fiom the hands of the Anabaptists who were typically far more interested in deed than creed. A modern translation of it is: John H. Yoder, Schleitheim Confession (Kitchener: Herald Press, 1977). 87 Bondage and Liberation of the Will.21 However, even though Calvin is substantially correct when he says that Anabaptists and papists agree in their doctrine of the will, there are also certain noteworthy differences between the two. In order to discover those differences it is helpful to turn to one of the foremost Anabaptist theologians of the sixteenth century, Balthasar Hubmaier. Hubmaier's Understanding of the Human Will There is no historical evidence that Balthasar Hubmaier and John Calvin ever encountered each other. Indeed, it would seem virtually certain that they did not meet, for Hubmaier died a martyr's death in 1527 at Vienna. At that time Calvin was only eighteen years of age and had not yet even finished his formal education in Paris. Later on, though, Calvin became aware of some of Hubmaier's writings. For instance in 1544 Farel gave him a translated copy of Hubmaier's Von der christlichen Taufe der Glciubigen.25 Ho*errer, there is likely no way of knowing whether or not Calvin ever read Hubmaier's books on the freedom of the human will. In 1527 Balthasar Hubmaier published two treatises, both of which share the same title, On the Freedom of the Will. Hubmaier, atrained theologian, was a prominent leader within the Anabaptist movement. In fact, more than one author has designated him "the theologian of Anabaptism."26 However, Hubmaier began his studies in Freiburg as a theological student within the Catholic Church. Under the sponsorship of Johann 2a See chapter 4 ofthis study. " Williams, Radical Reformation, 596. 26 See the seminal work of Torsten Bergsten, Balthasar Hubmaier: Anabaptist Theologian and Martyr, trans. W.R. Estep (Valley Forge: Judson Press, 1978). Also see H. Wayne Pipkin and John H. Yoder's translation of Hubmaier's collected works, Balthasar Hubmaier: Theologian of Anabaptism (Scottdale: Herald Press, 1989). 88 Eck, he received his Doctorate of Theology in 1512 from the University of Ingolstadt. This same university promptly appointed him as a Professor of Theology. For the next decade Hubmaier faithfully taught the doctrines of the church as they had been passed down to him by Eck. It was not until the spring of 1523 that Hubmaier began his reformatory work in Waldshut. Then, only four short years after this, the two treatises on the freedom of the will flowed forth from his pen. Considering this, it is hardly surprising that some streams from his Catholic education still swirled around in his thoughts. He may have been the theologian of Anabaptism, but he also firmly held on to some of his Catholic heritage.2T Right from the start of his first treatise, On the Freedom of the Will,Hubmaier sets forth his view that each person consists of three distinct parts. "The human being is a corporeal and rational creature, created by God as body, spirit and soul, Gen. 2;7."2& This trichotomous anthropology is also found at the beginning of his 1526 Catechism, which is set up as a dialogue between two Christian men, Leonhart and Hans. Leonhart asks, "What are you?" To which Hans replies, "A corporeal reasonable creature, in body, soul and spirit, created thus by God in his image."2e Eachpart of a human being also has its own will. For Hubmaier, humans possess "the will of the flesh, the will of the soul, and the will of the spirit."3o -' For instance, until his death Hubmaier ardently held to the doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary. See his Apologia in Balthasar Hubmaier: Theologian of Anabaptism, trans. H. Wayne Pipkin and John H. Yoder (Scottdale: Herald Press, 1989), 537. " Balthasar Hubmaier, "Freedom of the Will, Part 1," in Balthasar Hubmaier: Theologian of Anabaptism, trans. H. Wayne Pipkin and John H. Yoder (Scottdale: Herald Press, 1989), 429. t' Balthasar Hubmaier, "A Christian Catechism," in Balthasar Hubmaier: Theologian of Anabaptism, trans. H. Wayne Pipkin and John H. Yoder (Scottdale: Herald Press, 1989),345. 30 Hubmaier, Freeclom of the Wilt (l),430. 89 At creation these three components of human beings, along with their respective wills. were very good and were "also wholly free to choose good or evil, life or death, heaven or hell."3l However, the fall into sin changed this dramatically. The flesh irretrievably lost both its goodness and its freedom. It became utterly incapable of doing anything good. The soul was wounded so severely that it could not refuse evil because, through the fall, it had lost its knowledge of good and evil. Moreover, the spirit became like a prisoner bound to the evil desires of the flesh. Nevertheless - and this is a crucial point for Hubmaier - "the spirit of the human being... has before, during, and after the Fall remained upright, whole, and good."32 Erren as Eve was offering her husband the forbidden fruit, the spirit of Adam did not want to sin. Also in Adam's descendants, the spirit gladly wants to will and to do what is right. Yet, it is hindered in its godly desires since it is imprisoned by the flesh. Hubmaier sums this up in his Catechism when Hans explains, "Goodness and freedom were through Adam's disobedience taken captive in our spirit, wounded in our soul, and completely corrupted in our flesh; therefore we are all conceived and bom in sin and are by nature the children of wrath."l3 Next, Hubmaier considers how the restoration by Christ affects the trichotomous human nature.34 The work of Christ does not have any beneficial effect on the flesh: it remains as utterly and hopelessly corrupt as it was before. Neither does the work of Christ significantly alter the spirit itself. The spirit is still willing and ready to do all good. The greatest change, then, comes about in the soul. The gift of Christ to 3' Hubmaier, Freedom of the Will (l),432. 32 Hubmaier, Freedom of the Witl (l),434. 33 Hubmaier, A Christian Catechism,36l . 3a Hubmaier, Freedom of the Witt (l),439-41 . 90 humankind is that he restores souls to health and freedom. Furthermore, Hubmaier repeatedly emphasizes that this restoration happens by means of the sent Word of Christ - that is, the preaching of the gospel. It is through the sent Word that the soul is awakened once again with the knowledge of what is good and what is evil. After this restoration by Christ the soul stands at a crossroad between the flesh and the spirit. If the soul chooses to side with the spirit, it wills what is good and receives God's blessing. However, if the soul chooses to follow the evil desires of the flesh, it will only and deservedly reap God's wrath. Again, the catechetical instructor, Hans, provides us with a helpful summary: ooYes, to the present day, through the Word of God sent, our souls are just as free in themselves to will good and evil as was Adam's soul in Paradise."3s In his second treatise, On the Freedom of the Will,Hubmaier brings forward a long list of Scripture passages in order to substantiate his anthropological views.16 He also takes the time to refute his opponents who had been coming to him on a daily basis with "many Scriptures by which they hope to eradicate completely the freedom of the will of the human being."37 The main thrust of his opponents' argument was that Scripture clearly teaches that all of life is ruled by God's providence. Therefore, no one can speak of a will that is truly free. Everything is ordained by God, and God will ensure that everything happens according to his eternal counsel. What, then, is left of free choice? tt Hubmaier, A Christian Catechism,36l. tu More recently Eddie Mabry has weighed Hubmaier's use of Scripture and found it wanting. His criticism does contain valid points. Eddie Mabry, Balthasar Hubmaier's Understanding of Faith (Lanham: University Press of America, 1998),60-63. " Balthasar Hubmaier, "Freedom of the Will, Part2," in Balthqsar Hubmaier: Theologian of Anabaptism, trans. H. Wayne Pipkin and John H. Yoder (Scottdale: Herald Press, 1989),471. 9l To this argument Hubmaier responds that his opponents fail to distinguish between the two wills of God.38 On the one hand, there is God's hidden or omnipotent will. This is the will by which God has ordained all things. Human beings cannot know this divine will, nor do they need to concern themselves with it. On the other hand, there is God's revealed or ordered will. This revealed will certainly can be known since it is found in Scripture. Moreover, since it is through the sent Word of God that freedom is regained, Hubmaier maintains that once people have heard the gospel, they have a choice to make. They opt for either good or evil, life or death, heaven or hell. A Comparison of Hubmaier and Pighius Balthasar Hubmaier and Albert Pighius both taught that the human will has not been totally corrupted by the fall into sin. For them something remains in the will which is inherently good. Using this remnant of goodness, all people can naturally aspire unto God and unto godliness if they so desire. Moreover, since they are able to turn their hearts towards the Lord, they are also accountable for the decisions they make. If they seek to serve God, they are praiseworthy; however, if they do not, they are condemnable. This is where the similarity between Hubmaier and Piehius ends and the difference begins. One of the most remarkable elements of Hubmaier's instruction on the will is the way in which he interlinks it with his trichotomous anthropology.3e Hubmaier distinguishes among the human body, soul and spirit, with each constitutive component having its own will. Thus, for him, everyone has three wills, whereas Pighius only ever speaks of one 38 Hubmaier, Freedom of the lltitl (ll),472-74. tn Being aware of Hubmaier's trichotomous anthropology also aids in understanding the teachings of Anthony Pocquet, one of the Libertines. See pp. 10lff. below. 92 will. Furthermore, Hubmaier maintains that one of those three wills, the will of the spirit, came through the fall into sin entirely unscathed. Even Pighius, who was condemned by the Council of Trent for his insufficient view of original sin, did not go that far. He taught that the human will had certainly been hampered by the fall, but it also retained enough inherent goodness to seek after God and eternal righteousness. However, Hubmaier asserts that one of the human wills, the will of the spirit, did not lose any of its original qualities and purities. On this one point, then, Hubmaier has an even weaker view of the effects of original sin than Pighius did. Another difference between Hubmaier and Pighius is their underlying motivation for teaching the freedom of the human will. As mentioned earlier,a0 Pighius espouses a doctrine of salvation in which God and human beings are partners working together in order to accomplish deliverance from the debilitating effects of sin. In this joint venture between the human and the divine, human beings must be able to contribute their own part, which Pighius identifies as the will's own desire to be saved. Hence, first and foremost, it is Pighius' synergistic soteriology which motivates him to advocate the freedom of the will. By contrast, Hubmaier's adherence to the liberty of the will is shaped more by ethical concems than by soteriological ones. The Anabaptist theologian makes his intention quite clear in the preface to his first treatise on the freedom of the will: To the majestic, highborn prince and lord, Lord George, Margrave at Brandenburg.... Although for several years great earnestness and diligence has been expended so that the gospel was preached to all creatures, I, nevertheless,.unfortunately, find many people who to this point have learned and grasped no more than two pieces from all the preaching. First, one says: "We believe; faith saves us." Second, "We can do nothing good. oo See pp. 6lffabove. 93 God works in us the desire and the doing. We have no free will." Now, however, such remarks are only half-truths from which one can conclude no more than half-judgments. Indeed, under the cover of these aforementioned half-truths all kinds of evil, disloyalty, and unrighteous- ness have fully and totally gotten the upper hand.al And a little fuither on he adds: To uproot such tares, gracious Lord, I have written a small booklet for Your Princely Grace and summarized in short therein who and what is the human being in and outside of the grace of God, and what he is capable of. I will also as soon as possible make another book wherein I will testify incontrovertibly and still more powerfully with the Holy Scriptures to the freedom of the human being to do good and evil.a2 So, according to his own testimony, it was a distressing pastoral situation which prompted Hubmaier to pick up his pen. Even after years of faithful, evangelical preaching, Christians were not living as Christ commanded. All manner of disloyalty and unrighteousness had taken the upper hand in the land. To make matters even worse, people were fashioning an excuse for their vices by weaving together two cardinal doctrines of the Reformation, the sovereignty of God and sola fide. In effect, they were saying, "lf God is sovereign, then God is also sovereign over my sins. And, for that reason, there is nothing I can do about them. Besides that, why bother doing good works if we are saved by faith alone anyway?" Hubmaier was appalled at this attitude, and he was convinced that the way to rectify the situation was by impressing upon Christians that they did, in fact, have a free will. For those who have a free will must also take responsibility for their actions. al Hubmaier, Freedom of the lltilt (0,427. a2 Hubmaier, Freedom of the lhll (l),429. 94 Calvin's Position on the Anabaptist View of the Human Will How might John Calvin have responded to the views brought forth by Balthasar Hubmaier? Of course, Calvin never actually wrote a treatise against Hubmaier's Freedom of the Will, so caution must be exercised at this point. Nonetheless, since Hubmaier's view on original sin is, in a certain sense, even weaker than that of Pighius, it is not unreasonable to suggest that the theologian of Geneva would have countered the theologian of Anabaptism with as much vigour as he challenged the papal theologian of Kampen. As with Pighius, so also with Hubmaier, Calvin would have rejected the assertion that after the fall something remains in the will which is sufficiently good to seek after God. Citing Romans 3:9-20, Calvin fervently maintains that, so far as natural abilities are concerned, there is no one who seeks after God.a3 Due to the fall into sin, all humans are totally corrupt and without hope, unless God intervenes in his grace. Neither does Calvin share Hubmaier's trichotomous understanding of human nature. Although he does not discuss trichotomy per se, in his Institutes Calvin clearly holds to a dichotomous anthropology. He says, 'oFurthermore, that man consists of a soul and a body ought to be beyond controversy."oo Then he goes on to explain that even though Scripture does at times speak of the soul and the spirit separately, this only describes more comprehensively the incorporeal part of the human being. It does not imply that "soul" and "spirit" are two distinct entities. Although the difference between dichotomy and trichotomy may seem inconsequential, some radical reformers used this tripartite " Calvin, Bondage an(l Liberation of the lfiil,172-74. oo Calvin, Institutes, 1.15.2. 95 understanding of the human nature as a stepping stone to other more bizarre and unorthodox teach i ngs.as Finally, Calvin would have agreed wholeheartedly with Hubmaier's concern for the sanctification of God's people. His treatise, Against the Libertines, to which we will turn presently, demonstrates that Calvin will certainly not tolerate a laissez-faire attitude towards piety. Sinful ways must be clearly identified and consistently rejected. However, unlike Hubmaier, Calvin does not believe that it is necessary to advocate the freedom of the will in order to promote the holiness of lifestyle. For his part Hubmaier laments the fact that some people wiggle out of their ethical responsibilities by saying, "God is sovereign over everything; therefore, I am excused from my sins." According to Calvin, though, the problem is not that these people are forgetting the liberty of their will, but that they are misappropriating God's sovereign providence for their own sinful purposes. Calvin and the Libertines One of the first French-speaking Libertines was a certain Flemish man named Coppin of Lille.a6 He began preaching in his locale sometime around 1525, but was soon overshadowed by Quintin of Hainaut, who by all accounts seems to have been a charismatic, if not flamboyant, leader. Not much is known about what Quintin and his followers did during the next decade. However, in 1534 they reappear on the map in Paris, where Calvin met them personally while he was staying with Stephen la Forge and ot See pp. l0lff below. ou The main historical and biographical details concerning the Libertines can be found in Calvin, Again.st the Libertines,200-06. Some additional information can be gleaned ffom Williams, Radical Refbrmation,59S-602; Verhey, "Calvin's Treatise," 192-93 and Farley, "lntroduction," 162-64. 96 working on his Seneca commentary. Eventually Quintin and two of his associates, Claude Perceval and Anthony Pocquet, found refuge in Marguerite of Angoul6me's court. There Quintin served as huisser and Perceval as valet de chambre, while Pocquet became the court chaplain. Anthony Pocquet visited Geneva in 1542 trying to gather more followers and seeking to gain Calvin's approval of his teachings. The approval he sought was never given, though, and Pocquet was swiftly sent on his way through the city gates. He returned to the court of Marguerite, where his preaching garnered a more favourable response. Yet, in spite of the fact that Anthony Pocquet was no longer living and preaching in Geneva, Calvin was still concerned about the widespread appeal that the Libertines had. He estimated that they had about "ten thousand souls"47 in their following. The size of their influence, as well as their ongoing presence in the court of Marguerite, prompted Calvin to refute them in writing. The challenge in doing so, though, was that the Libertines did not often put their doctrines down on paper. The structure within their sect was such that only their truly committed disciples received instruction in the deeper mysteries of their doctrines. Moreover, this instruction was almost always given verbally and shrouded in a veil of secrecy.4S For this reason, there is only one extant document from the Libertines - namely, the letter from Anthony Pocquet to his disciples, which is included in its entirety as an appendix to this study.ae Before we investigate the contents of that letter, one additional clarification is in order. The spiritual Libertines, led by Quintin and Pocquet, are not the same as the '' Calvin, Against the Libertines,205. ot Calvin, Against the Libertines,2gg-300. 49^ ' see Appendix I on pp. l22ft. 97 political Libertines who were active within the city council of Geneva in Calvin's days.50 The politically motivated Libertines, also known as the Perrinists, opposed many of the reformatory measures that Calvin was striving to bring to fruition within the city. Although there may have been a measure of kindred spirit between the spiritual and political Libertines, there is no evidence of any personal or historical connection between the two. Therefore, it is important to distinguish between them.sl Anthony Pocquet's Letter to His Disciples Due to its brevity and lack of lucidity, the sole extant document of the Libertines is not easy to comprehend. Pocquet, a former priest, meanders from one matter to another, hastily inserting citations from Scripture as he goes. Calvin himself becomes frustrated with Pocquet's style and characterizes the letter as a "cock and bull story."52 Nevertheless, some of the main contours of the Libertine beliefs can be distilled from this document. Pocquet's teachings will be briefly outlined below under the traditional loci of theology, Christology and anthropology. Special attention will be given to the implications of Pocquet's teachings for the human will. to Williams, Radical Reformation,604-05. Cf. Ross Williams Collins, Calvin and the Libertines oJ' Geneva (Toronto: Clarke, Irwin & Co., 1968). t' It appears that Donald Smeeton does indeed confuse the two groups. Smeeton, "Calvin's Conflict,,' 49. t'Calvin, . Against the Libertines,299. Theexact meaning of Calvin's metaphor is not entirely clear, but the context suggests that it is anything but complimentary. 98 The Doctrine of God One key statement that Anthony Pocquet makes in the latter half of his letter is this: "Everything that is outside of God is nothing."s3 At first glance it is a bizane assertion, as it seems to imply that the heavens and the earth, and all that fill them, including human beings, simply do not exist. What is Pocquet trying to communicate with this statement? In other sections of his letter he states variously that the devil and the world have come to an end,54 that sin is dead55 and that death and hell are either an error or a vain thought.56 Consequently, Pocquet seems to adhere to a dualistic ontology. On the one side of reality there is God and, to be sure, he is good.tt On the other side of reality stands everything that is evil. Yet there is a difference between traditional dualism and Pocquet's version of this philosophy. For this representative of the Libertines teaches that everything on the evil side of reality, in the end, really does not exist for those who are in Christ. For them it is nothing. This concept of the unreality of evil is part of the Libertine teaching of cuider. Cuider is an old French word meaning "1) to have an opinion, 2) to consider, 3) to presume that something is so."58 It is particularly the third sense of this word that the Libertines are wont to use.se As Pocquet himself explains, "This was the world, which 53 This quotation comes liom line 99 of Pocquet's letter as it is printed in Appendix l. All references to this letter below will also be bv line number. 'o Lines 23-24. tt Lines 137-138. s6 Line l40. 57 Lines 95-96. tt This definition can be found in the online version of Jean Nicot's Thresor de la languefranqaise ( I 606). web address : www.lib.uchicago.edu/efts/ARTFl/projects/dicos. te Calvin himself points to the centralify of cuider within the scheme of Libertine thinking. See Calvin, Against the Libertines, 234. 99 has already ended, not so entirely as not to be present, but the world has ended for those who are in Christ and who no longer live according to the flesh."60 Christians may still presume that this evil world, sin and the devil exist, and that they, therefore, should be afraid of hell. However, according to Pocquet, this is an instance of incorrec t cuider. a moment of erroneous and vain thinking.6l Rather, what Christians ought to do is become increasingly renewed in their minds62 so that they no longer see sin.63 They have a different perspective on reality. They perceive that "sin is dead,"64 and they "recognize the works of God everywhere and are astonished at nothing, benefiting from everything, realizing that everything is [caused by] the will and providence of God."65 As a result of the fact that the will and providence of God cause everl'thing to happen, Pocquet goes on to affirm that "everything is pure to the pure."66 In effect, this means that Christians are free to do whatever they wish,67 and everything they do ought to be considered good and pure, even as God himself is good and pure. God's will and the wills of his people are practically merged into one. lndeed, Pocquet's ..what colleague, Quintin, is quoted as saying, you or I do is God,s doing! And whatever God does, we do; for God is in us!"68 Thus the Libertine doctrine of God is a peculiar, sixteenth-century combination of dualism and panentheism which maintains 60 Pocquet, lines 30-32; emphasis mine. 6r Line 140. 62 Line 57. 63 Lines 92-93. ut Lines 137-138. ut Lines 42-44. 66 Line 45. 6t Hence they have received the name ,,Libertines.,, uu Caluin, Against the Libertines,239. 100 that the human will is absorbed into the divine will, at least for all those who are in Christ. The Doctrine of Christ Closely tied in with the Libertines' panentheistic leanings is their teaching on the incamation of Christ. Pocquet quotes the Lord Jesus as saying, "I have been made every man."6e As Calvin correctly points out,70 such a quotation is simply not found in any of the inspired gospels. While Pocquet's false citation clearly undercuts his whole Christology, for the sake of understanding the Libertines, this needs to be investigated further. Later on in his letter, Pocquet uses the metaphor of marriage to work out his belief that Christ has been made "every man." Drawing from the creation account of Genesis 2, the chaplain of Angoul6me explains that the church is "the woman" who came from Adam's rib, and that just as the rib was originally part of Adam, so now the church is part of Christ. In fact, he goes so far as to say that on the cross the side of Christ's body was opened in order to put the previously removed rib back into its place, figuratively speaking.Tl As the church and Christ are now Bride and Groom, the Lover takes his Beloved back to the garden of paradise, "where it is forbidden to want to do anything but to let ourselves be led by the will of God."72 Thus by virtue of the union with Christ, the wills of the members of the church are transformed back into their original created state of integrity. In that state the will is not only free from all sin, but it 6e Pocquet, line 33; cf. lines 83-84. to Calvin, Against the Libertines,304 t' Lines llg-122. tt Lines 128-129. 101 does not even perceive or see sin.73 Again, the practical result is that for those who are in Christ, sin is dead. Nothing is iniquitous anymore. Each person is free to do whatever he or she wishes. The Doctrine of the Human Nature Nonetheless, some people may still have guilty consciences about certain things they have done which they cannot help but feel were wrong in the sight of God. To this Pocquet answers, "let us leave the old Adam, i.e., our living soul, and let us come to higher things, i.e., the spirit."Ta The first Adam, the one who lived in the Garden of Eden, saw sin after his wife gave him the forbidden fruit.75 Therefore, following the Libertine way of thinking, if people see sin in their deeds and feel guilty about this, they are living like the old Adam. However, the old Adam must be left behind - or better, below - and God's people must ascend to a higher plateau, the spiritual plane on which sin is seen no more and guilty consciences are banished. Accordingly, if a person still had scruples about some iniquity, the Libertines were known to quip, "o Adam, are you still about? Hasn't the old man been crucified in you yet? Still savouring the taste of the apple? Be careful that the morsel doesn't strangle your throat!"76 By encouraging his disciples to leave the "living soul" and ascend to the "spirit," Pocquet reveals his trichotomous understanding of the human nature. At least in this regard, then, there is similarity between his anthropology and that of Balthasar t'Lines 138-140. to Lines 135- l36. tt Lines 128-131. 76 As quoted in Calvin, Against the Libertines,263-64. 102 Hubmaier.Tt Fot Hubmaier, too, the spirit forms the purest substance in a person, certainly purer than the flesh but also a pious step above the soul. In fact, the spirit itself is entirely free from all taint of sin. Yet for the theologian of Anabaptism, the spirit is always hindered in its pious yearnings by its imprisonment in the body. The theologian of Libertinism was more optimistic than that. Pocquet confidently instilled in his followers the notion that they were able to step up from "soul" to "spirit," at which point they were high enough to have risen above all sin and troubled consciences. In other words, the human will has the potential to become entirely perfect already in this present, earthly life.78 The Ethical Consequences of the Libertine Doctrines The various Libertine teachings culminate in what might be best described as a laissez- faire, panentheistic fatalism. An authentic incident, as recounted by Calvin, serves to illustrate this point: This notorious swine Quintin once found himself in a street where a man had just been killed. By chance a faithful believer was also there who said, "Alas! Who has committed this wicked deed?" Immediately he replied in a jesting way, "Since you want to know, it was I." The other being completely surprised said, "How can you be so flippant?" To which he replied, "lt isn't I, but God." 'o'W'hy," asked the other, "must you attribute to God evils that He has commanded should be punished?" At which this swine disgorged even more forcefully his venom, saying, "yes, it's you, it's I, it's God! For whatever you or I do is God's doing! And whatever God does, we do; for God is in us!"7e Putting to the side Calvin's fervent disdain for his opponent and focussing instead on Quintin's own statements, it is obvious that the Libertine doctrines have a drastic effect tt Se" p. 88 above. tt Cf. Pocquet, lines 108- 109 where Christ is, again incorrectly, quoted as saying to his disciples, "you will be as incorruptible as I." to Calvin, Against the Libertines,23B-3g. 103 on ethics. Even murder can now be excused. or at least trifled with. under the notion that ultimately God has done it. The human is absorbed into the divine in such a way that also the actions of each are amalgamated. Looking at it from a different angle, the providential will of God dominates everything with such direct and coercive force that human beings are effectively absolved of all responsibility. People may well still have a will, but that will is no longer accountable to God. Without fear of reproof or retribution, each is free to do as each sees fit to do. Calvin's Rejection of the Libertines' Teachings Anyone who is even vaguely familiar with Calvin's convictions will immediately conclude that the reformer of Geneva would have neither sympathy nor patience for the likes of Anthony Pocquet and his colleagues. The Anabaptists Calvin could at least respect for their desire to adhere to the Scriptures, but the Libertines lose themselves in such a labyrinth of strange views that "it is a marvel how creatures who bear the human figure can be so void ofsense and reason as to be duped and fall victim to such brutish fantasies."8 Early on in his treatise of 1545, Against the Libertines, Calvin points out that even though the heterodox teachings of the Libertines may be novel to many of his readers, they are not without precedent in the history of the church. The Fathers of the early church also had to confront assorted varieties of dualistic fatalism, especially as this was espoused by the Gnostics and the Manichaeans.8l The Manichaeans posited two souls in human beings, one which was good while the other was evil. The goal of their religion t" Calvin, Against the Anabaptists,40. t'Calvin, Against the Libertine.s, 195-99. Augustine was one of the Church Fathers who exerted himself in refuting the Manichaeans. See pp. 32ff. above. 104 was to purify the good soul of whatever inferiorities still adhered to it and to gradually restore it to the pristine condition which that good soul enjoyed from the beginning.82 However, as Calvin states, the Manichaean procedures for purifying the soul "amounted to wicked sorceries and damnable acts of shamefulness."83 In other words, the Manichaeans, not unlike the Libertines, had away of making iniquity look innocuous. In the course of his treatise against the Libertines, Calvin also corrects some of the Libertine notions concerning God's providence. In doing so he also clarifies and crystallizes his understanding of how the human will relates to the will of God. Calvin begins the thirteenth chapter of his treatise by delineating the difference between God's providence as he understands it and as teachers like Pocquet explain it. For them "everything in the world must be seen directly as His doing."8a The key word in that statement is "directly." Calvin has a more nuanced view of God's providence. God is indeed sovereign, but he works in a variety of manners and through a variety of means. Before Calvin continues his explanation of God's providence, though, he pauses to make the following statement which deserves careful attention: "In making this claim [that everything in the world must be seen directly as God's doing] the Libertines attribute nothing to the will of man, no more than if he were a stone."85 The remarkable thing about this statement is not so much what is said but who is saying it. In the debate with Pighius, it was Pighius who accused Calvin of leaving nothing of worth within the human will;86 however, now it is Calvin who takes the very same accusation and levels it tt Cafvin, Against the Libertines, 197. tt Calvin, Against the Libertines, 197. t* Cafvin, Against the Libertines,23B. *t Calvin, Against the Libertines,238. tu See pp. 56ff. above. 105 at the Libertines. In so doing, he demonstrates decisively that he does not teach a form of divine determinism that leaves no room for the human will. On the contrary, Calvin says, that is what the Libertines teach. Furthermore, should anyone wish to know precisely what he teaches, Calvin writes: As for man, the Scripture clearly teaches us that from the time he turned away from God his soul has been full of ignorance and vanity, full of perversity and rebellion against God, given over to evil, oppressed and vanquished by weakness. Nevertheless it continues to call him a creature of God, possessing in himself those natural conditions which God placed in him, unless all of it is comrpted and depraved by sin. Consequently, according to Scripture, man's soul is a spiritual substance endowed with sense and reason, in order to understand and pass judgments, and endowed also with will, in order to choose and desire those things that his life wants.87 Thus in the face of Libertine fatalism, and without diminishing the doctrine of original sin, Calvin clearly affirms the genuine existence and activity of the human wlll post lapsum. This raises the question, though, of how God can be in sovereign control of all things, many of which are infected with iniquity, and yet remain entirely untainted by evil himself. Calvin devotes his attention to this enigma in the fourteenth chapter of his treatise. God governs this world, he explains, in a threefold manner. First, there is a "universal operation by which he guides all creatures according to the condition and propriety which He had given each when He made them."88 Thus, to cite but two examples, God keeps every star moving in its celestial path and he also sustains the breath and life of all human beings. Yet as God governs he respects the created quality tt Calvin, Against the Libertines,236-37;emphasis mine. *t Cafuin, Against the Libertines,242-43; emphasis mine. 106 and nature of each different creature. God's providence treats humans differently than humus, for humans were created in his image whereas humus was not. Secondly, God causes his creatures "to serve His goodness, righteousness, and judgment according to His present will to help His servants, to punish the wicked, and to test the patience of His faithful, or to chastise them in His fatherly kindness."sn God.u.t even use evil people or the devil to accomplish his righteous purposes. Here Calvin arrives at the crux of the matter. For, as he says, at this point the Libertines rush ahead and "without thinking... they conclude that creatures no longer act for themselves" - that is to say, they no longer have a will. However, the disciples of Pocquet fail to recognize two essential points: The first is that Satan and evildoers are not so effectively the instruments of God that they do not also act in their own behalf. For we must not suppose that God works in an iniquitous man as if he were a stone or a piece of wood, but He uses him as a thinking creature, according to the quality of his nature which He has given him. Thus when we say that God works in evildoers, that does not prevent them from working also in their own behalf.eo The second exception for which these wretches have no regard is the enorrnous diversity between God's work and that of an evil man's when God makes use of it as an instrument. For the wicked man is motivated either by his avarice, or ambition, or envy, or cruelty to do what he does, and he disregards any other end.... But God's intention is completely different. For His aim is to exercise iustice for the salvation and preservation of the good. . ..el Thus, for instance, when the Chaldean raiders stole all of Job's camels, that upright man rightly said, "the LORD has taken away" (Job l:21). For that raid was not outside the will of God, and God's intentions were good. He planned to prove and purify the faith of tn Calvin, Against the Libertines,243-44. no Caluin, Against the Libertines,245. n' Calvin, Against the Libertines,246. t07 his servant. However. at the same time. this does mean not the Chaldean raiders did not want to do what they did. Their human wills were active and, in contrast to God's will, certainly evil. The third form of God's work in this world "consists in the fact that He governs His faithful, living and reigning in them by His Holy Spirit."e2 In other contexts, this divine deed would be called "regeneration." Yet, again, as he explains this third aspect of God's providence, Calvin is careful to guard against any hint of coercion in the process of conversion: Nevertheless, we must note the nature of our choice and will. For although they are both depraved by sin, our Lord reforms them and changes them from evil to good. Thus whatever we are able to discem, to will, and to do belongs to a natural gift. But whatever we cannot choose, desire, or but do wrong is the result of the corruption of sin. What we will to do well and have the power to effect comes from the supernatural grace of the Spirit, which regenerates us in a divine life.e3 The noteworthy aspect of this passage is that Calvin speaks of "our choice and will." Our choice and will have been corrupted by sin, but the sinful will still remains ours. Our will is not somehow absorbed into God's will. Consequently, when we choose to do wrong, we are also accountable for that wrongdoing. In this way, Calvin rejects the laissez-faire fatalism of the Libertines and reaffirms both the almighty providence of God and the actual responsibility of human beings. " Calvin, Against the Libertines,247. o' Calvin, Against the Libertines, 248. 108 Summary & One More Look at Hoitenga Calvin's polemics with the radical reformers are just as important for our understanding of his theology as his controversies with papal theologians. The radical reformation was comprised of many diverse teachings and teachers. Calvin was quite astute in discerning these differences - more so than he is often given credit for.ea What follows is a summary of how the radical reformation served to refine Calvin's thinkins on the doctrine of the human will. The lnfluence of the Opponent In dealing with the radical reformers, Calvin was faced with two very different groups, the Anabaptists and the Libertines. Concerning the doctrine of the will the Anabaptists were, in many - but not all - respects similar to the Roman Catholics. Therefore, if Calvin had in fact responded directly to a man like Balthasar Hubmaier, then he would have denounced the freedom of the will, at least as the Anabaptists and the papists defined that freedom. Hubmaier described the freedom of the will as the freedom to choose life or death, heaven or hell. However, when Calvin deals with a different group, the Libertines, a different emphasis comes to the fore. Then Calvin does not spend time rejecting the freedom of the will, but rather exerts himself to defend the real and responsible existence of the will. In this respect there is a remarkable similarity between Calvin and Augustine. Just as Augustine, in dealing with the Manichaeans, had to emphasi ze theongoing existence of the will in order to counteract their fatalistic determinism, so also Calvin had to do the ea See williams, Radical Reformation,5g8; Balke, Calvin and the Anabaptist Radicals. T. 109 same when he was faced with the panentheistic determinism of the Libertines. Moreover, just as Augustine, when dealing with Pelagius, had to highlight the corruption of the human will and bring to the fore God's grace, so also calvin, in dealing with the Anabaptists and papists, had to do likewise. Thus, the adversary being refuted has much to do with the emphasis and content of the refutation. This influence of the opponent needs to be borne in mind when reading the writings of John Calvin. For instance, Hoitenga is distressed by how much Calvin stresses the utter ruin into which the human will has fallen. In fact, he fears that Geneva,s refbrmer has well nigh destroyed the humanity of humans by depriving them of their wills. What he fails to take into account sufficiently, though, is that in those passages of the Institutes to which he refers Calvin is busy countering the synergism of men like Albert pighius and Balthasar Hubmaier' Had Hoitenga listened to Calvin's refutation of another opponent, such as Anthony Pocquet, he might not have been so disenchanted. For the polemics against the Libertines conclusively show that Calvin certainly did not deny the real existence of the human will.es The Will & Ethics As mentioned above, the Anabaptist view of the freedom of the will was similar to that of the papal church. However, the distinctive emphasis of the Anabaptists was their ardent zeal for ethically upright lifestyles. They were disappointed that the reformation, in general, had not spurred the average member in the pew on to greater heights of sanctification' Moreover, Balthasar Hubmaier felt that this was because protestant nt This is also the conclusion of Allen verhey in his article, "calvin,s Treatise .Against Libertines. "' the I l0 preachers' such as Luther and Zwingli, stressed the sovereignty of God so much that people felt they were no ,.If longer responsible for their own iniquities. God is truly sovereign, then he is also sovereignly responsible for my sins." That was the mentality that was developing within Protestant congregations. In order to solve this pastoral and ethical problem, men like Hubmaier began emphasizing the free choice of the human will' However' as Calvin points out, in their effort to combat these fatalistic attitudes the Anabaptists began espousing a doctrine of the will which was in danger of retuming to the synergism of Rome rather than advancing the cause of the Reformation.e6 It may also be asked whether Hoitenga is not following a line of argumentation that is somewhat similar to Hubmaier. To be sure, Hoitenga uses the more philosophical language of moral accountability, while Hubmaier speaks more pastorally about a lack of sanctification' Yet, in the end, both concerns are ethical in nature. Moreover, just as Hubmaier gave more credit to the fallen will with a view to increasing the level of sanctification among his parishioners, Hoitenga argues for "the natural goodness and freedom"eT of the fallen will so as to render intelligible the moral accountability of human beings' However, in doing so Hoitenga is inadvertently developing an anthropology that begins to look more papal than Protestant. Indeed, one might even wonder if Hoitenga is doing this inadvertently or intentionally. For in the epilogue of his book, he reveals that e6 The ethical bent of the Anabaptists also brings another potential theological Hubmaier pitfall into focus. advocated the ffee choice of the will, not so much because Scripture taught it, but more because he felt he needed it in order to raise the level of sanctification among churctr members. As pious as that approach may sound, it falters on a fundamental point: the source o?aoctrine ought to be the Holy Scriptures, not the holiness ofsaints. nt Hoitenga, John Calvin and the Wiil. 126. ll1 his ultimate goal is to unite Catholics and Calvinists "in a common Christian anthropology."es Upon closer examination, there is an additional similarity between Hoitenga's and Hubmaier's account of the fallen will. As a trichotomist, Hubmaier taught there are various wills at work in the human soul. The will of the flesh is incorrigibly wicked, the will of the spirit is inherently good and the will of the soul is caught in the moral crossfire between the two. Hoitenga is not a trichotomist; in fact, in his book, he simply does not venture into the dichotomy versus trichotomy debate. Nevertheless, he does speak of two opposed inclinations within the human will. He recommends that henceforth Reformed thinkers should "affirm that the fallen will still possesses by its nature the two components with which God create d it, an inclination to moral goodness and the ability to choose between following this inclination and the new inclinations to evil that now corrupt its nature in the fallen state."ee This recommendation is not novel. In all of its essential parts, Hoitenga's proposal was already made in the sixteenth century. Only, at that time, it was an Anabaptist theologian, not a Reformed philosopher, who set forth that particular point of view. God's Providence Especially in his treatise, Against the Libertines, Calvin teaches that there is a distinct difference between the biblical revelation concerning God's providence and the philosophical notion of determinism. Determinism quickly leads to fatalism. Fatalism can easily lead to a libertine view of ethics. On the contrary, divine providence does not nt Hoitenga, John Calvin and the l{ill, 128. nn Hoitenga, John Calvin and the llill. 127; emphasis mine. l12 diminish nor eradicate the nature of human beings created in the image of God. Since God created human beings with awill,thenGod also works with, and works on, the wills of those creatures that came from his own hand. God's providence treats people as human beings. not as inanimate stones. Furthermore, since God respects the existence of the wills he has created, God also justly holds human beings accountable for their choices. This crucial distinction between providence and determinism also allays another fear which Hoitenga has. He worries that the traditional Reformed emphasis on the sovereignty of God may leave disciples of Calvin open to the charge that they are advocating some variant of theological determinism. His proposed remedy runs as follows: "what Reformed epistemology requires, it seems, is a'free-will defense' of Christian faith, to head off the theological determinism implicit in the claim that revealed beliefs are involuntary....r'100 f, is hard to see, however, why such a "free-will defense" is needed when Calvin's own distinction between providence and fatalism is itself sufficiently robust to counter the charge that theological determinism is somehow being adopted. 'oo Hoitenga, John Calvin ancl the Wiil. 134-35. CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION Thus far this investigation of John Calvin's instruction on the will has proceeded from his well-known Institutes to his denunciation of a little-known preacher named Anthony Pocquet, with numerous stops along the way. Hoitenga's critique of Calvin in the twentieth century has also necessitated reaching back to Augustine's teachings on the will in the fifth century. What remains is to gather the discoveries together in a succinct manner. A Critique of a Corrective Since it was Hoitenga's book, John Calvin and the Witt; A Critique and Coryective, which prompted this present re-examination of Calvin's teachings, it is only fitting to take one final look at his corrective and test its validity. Hoitenga first charges Calvin with being inconsistent in his treatment of the intellect and the will. Allegedly, Calvin is an intellectualist about human beings at creation but a voluntarist about fallen humanity. Hoitenga is correct that Calvin can speak in an intellectualist fashion, for he does refer to o'the the mind as leader or governor of the soul."l Perhaps Calvin inherited some of his intellectualistic leanings from his beloved mentor, Augustine, who spoke in a similar ' Calvin, Institutes,l. t 5.7. 114 fashion.2 However, Hoitenga's charge of inconsistency is somewhat contrived. Calvin is not rigid about the anatomy of, nor the hierarchy within, the human soul. Rather, his fundamental point is that the whole human being, including both the intellect and the will. was entirely upright at creation and that the whole human being became utterly comrpt after the fall. Hoitenga attempts to fit Calvin's teachings into a certain philosophical framework (intellectualism vs. voluntarism) which this theologian himself did not intend to use. This lack of accuracy in Hoitenga's criticism undermines its credibility.3 Hoitenga also contends that Calvin denigrates the human will so severely that he does not retain enough of it in the fallen state to account for the moral character and responsibility of human beings. In short, Hoitenga criticizes Calvin for turning people into amoral automatons.o This allegation is unsustainable. In the frrst place, both in his Institutess and the Bondage and Liberation of the Will,6 Calvin explicitly states that the fall into sin did not deprive human beings of a will, but that it deprived them of a sound and uprighl will. Secondly, in accepting the doctrine of the libertas in externis, Calvin agrees that, also after the fall, the human will is active and that it can even aspire to earthly and external good, although it is utterly incapable of seeking after God and etemal righteousness. Thirdly, in his treatise, Against the Libertines, Calvin ardently refutes those who "attribute nothing to the will of man, no more than if he were a stone."7 These t see p.33 n. l5 above. .'Since there is a significant amount of overlap between the activity of the mind and the will in Scripture^ (see p. 22 n. 26 above), it may be wiser to speak of the intellectual and volitional aspects of the soul rather than employing the -rsms that Hoitenga has used. o Hoitenga, John Cabin and the Will,69-70. t Caluin, Institutes,2.2.7,2.3.5. See further pp. 22ff above. u calvin, Bondage and Liberation of the l.yiil,20g. See further pp. 56ff above. t Calvin, Against the Libertines.23g. 115 three facts give sufficient evidence that Calvin certainly affirms the real existence of the human will in the fallen state and, therefore, he can provide a reasonable account of man' s morality and responsibility. To his credit, though, Hoitenga's critique directs theologians toward an important, but underappreciated, aspect of Calvin's teaching. How does this reformer account for the fact that totally corrupt human beings can still desire, and even attain,morally lofty goals? The answer is the above-mentioned libertas in externis,which is articulated in the Augsburg Confession but which was also accepted by Calvin. This teaching has the distinct benefit of safeguarding God's holiness and his grace, while accounting for both the philanthtopy and the moral struggles that fallen humanity still exhibits. Since it clearly affirms the real existence of the human will, the libertas in externis also confirms the moral responsibility of the human being. Those who make their own moral decisions are morally accountable for the decisions they take. Moreover, no one may shift the blame for their own, willful iniquities onto God. By the same token, this teaching firmly denies that people can initiate their own salvation, let alone accomplish or complete it. Thus the cardinal doctrines of the Reformation - salvation by grace alone, in Christ alone and by faith alone - are not compromised, while the dangers of both synergism and stoicism are addressed in one, often overlooked, aspect of Calvin's doctrine of the will. The fact that little attention has been paid to Calvin's agreement with the libertas in externis is hardly surprising. Calvin himself does not devote much attention to it. This is a lacuna in his exposition of the human will which historical theolosians todav would do well to fill in. 116 In conclusion, Hoitenga's corrective is in need of some rectification of its own. Others who have reviewed his book have come to similar conclusions.s However. the advantage of his study is that it probes deeply and systematically into Calvin's teaching on the will, highlighting areas that are worthy of further study. A Restatement of John Calvin's Doctrine of the Will Having just criticised Hoitenga's corrective of Calvin's doctrine of the will, it might appear contradictory to proceed at this point to a restatement of Calvin's teaching on this particular teaching. However, this present restatement is not so much an attempt to emend this reformer's teaching, as it is an effort to appreciate what he said, also taking into consideration the historical and polemical circumstances in which he wrote. What follows, then, is an attempt to restate concisely what John Calvin taught about the human will, integrating the insights that have been gained in this study. In the beginning God created human beings good and in his image. Inherent in this image were the gifts of intellect and will that the Creator gave specifically to his human creatures. Since they were created good, Adam's and Eve's minds were filled with true and wholesome knowledge and their wills possessed only pure and upright desires. yet, although they were created good, they were not created with an unchangeable goodness, o Thomas Pink' "Review of John Calvin and the l|titl," Retigious Studies 3a (199s); Derek Jefffeys, "Review of John Calvin *! lVilt: A Critique and Coruectivi," Journal of Religion'79, no. l ( 1999); Mark lhg Karlberg, "Review of John Calvin and the l4ill: A Critique and Corrective,'; Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 42 (1999). Karlberg is especially critical ofthe natural-supernaturat (or: nature-grace) dualism which pervades Hoitenga's approach, while Pink goes even farther and suggests that he is veering off in the direction of Pelagianism. lelfreys is more appreciative of John Calvin and the witt; how€ver, he questions whether the author has done fulllustice to the'noetic eflects ofthe fall into sin in the teaching of the Reformer. l17 such as God himself possesses.n In this way God still maintained a clear line of demarcation between himself and the human creatures made in his likeness. The Creator also granted Adam andEvefree wills - that is to say, they could choose either to obey God and remain in the bliss of Paradise or to disobey him and suffer the consequences. Enticed by the devil, they chose the latter, rebellious option. The consequences of their choice were devastating, not only for themselves but also for their descendants. The human mind was infected with all manner of futile and false thoughts, while the human will was enslaved to its sinful and selfish passions. This corruption was not partial but pervasive, affecting every aspect and ability of the fallen human beings.l0 At the same time, human beings did not lose their humanity in the fall; they did not become brute beasts. Both the intellect and the will were totally corrupted, but neither was utterly annihilated. " The human mind still has the ability to construct clever and complicated plans; the human will can still aspire to lofty and laudable goals. Humankind's advances in art and engineering, as well as its actions in charity and philanthropy, give ample evidence of this. Yet whatever abilities still remain in the human soul, people do not even use them consistently and properly in civic and earthly pursuits, let alone in the spiritual and heavenly matters.12 Thus, these vestiges of the ' Augustine - clearly taught this in the Enchiridion 4.12. However, Calvin, in his own way, emphasized that human beings, although created entirely good, did not originally possess the unalterable goodness which God himself *medilcre has. He even speaks, surprisingly, of the and even transito.y,tiltt', of man at creation (Institutes I .15.s). Calvin appears to be making essentially the same point as Augustine. The created goodness of the will was not unalterable, and for that reason, he describes it as ..midiocre." 'o Caluin, Inst itutes, 2.2-2.3. rr-Again, see pp' .-- I l4f above for the three ways in which Calvin clearly maintains the existence of the will after the fall. This limitation of 't the fallen will is delineated in the doctrine of libertas in externis. See Appendix 2. I l8 created state do not, and cannot, serve as some kind of stepping stone towards restored righteousness before God. After the fall into sin, God punished human beings by taking away the.freedom of their will. This punishment was just, for anyone who shamefully misuses a divine gift forfeits his right to hold onto that endowment.l3 Thus, of themselves, human beings cannot choose to be free of sin anymore; of themselves, they cannot even choose to initiate the salvation of their souls. Instead, their will is so depraved that it is bound to follow its own evil desires; in this sense it is rightly said that people sin necessarily. This necessity is not due to an external coercion but rather an intemal corruption.la Falle., human beings sin necessarily but no less voluntarily and, therefore, also culpably. A similar, but opposite, truth is found in God. Of necessity God does what is good, but he still does it willingly. No one coerces him into benevolence, righteousness or holiness. In his sovereign providence, God still upholds and governs all his creatures. Nothing happens outside of his divine will. At the same time, God deals with his creatures according to the distinct nature with which he originally made them. For this reason, God's providence acts differently upon a stone than upon a human being. Stones were not created to have either understanding or volition. Thus, if it is God's will that a certain stone falls he can simply "coerce" it downwards with the force of gravity. However, unlike stones, humans were created with intellects and wills. Therefore, also after the fall into sin, God governs over people in accordance with their humanity. In his sovereignty God may certainly incline the human heart in whichever direction he desires in order to '' was It especially Augustine who brought this insight to the fore. cf. p. 36 above. Calvin's debate with 't Pighius did much to bring this important distinction into focus. See Chapter 4 of this study. ll9 accomplish his purposes. However, he does not exterminate the human will to reach his foreordained goals. Divine providence is not philosophical determinism.ls The only way that human beings can escape their self-imposed slavery to sinful desires is through the redemption worked graciously by God in Christ through the Holy Spirit. "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:36). Yet as with his providence, God also works his salvation in accordance with the humanity of those whom he rescues. When he redeems someone, God does not forcefully override that person's will; instead, he mercifully renews the will, restoring once again the kind of pure and upright desires which the will possessed in its original state of integrity. However, just as conversion is not a coercive action of God upon human beings, it is also not a co- operative effort between God and human beings.16 At the fall into sin, human beings committed the equivalent of spiritual suicide.lT A dead person cannot perform self- resurrection - not even physical, much less spiritual, resurrection. Therefore, the spiritual restoration of the soul, including the will, is the gracious work of God from start to finish. He is the one who initially inclines the heart to desire liberation from the bondage of evil passions. He is the one who then sets that longing will free from its own iniquity. He is the one who also continues to preserve the liberated will in the redemption obtained for it in Christ. This ongoing protection by the Liberator is necessary, for evil and the Evil One relentlessly seek to re-enslave those who have been emancipated. Furthermore, '' Calvin's refutation of the Anabaptists and the Libertines afforded him opportunity to describe cod,s sovereign providence in such a way as to clearly avoid the pitfalls of fatalism and Stoicism. See Chapter 5 ofthis study. 16 The whole matter of efficacious versus co-operative grace was extensively covered in the debate between Pighius and Calvin. Cf. pp. 6lff above. r7 Augustine uses this analogy in the Enchiridion 9.30. 120 although God liberates people from sin's mastery in this age, he has reserved release from sin's misery for the age to come.t8 t<*** Arbitrium humanum: liberum vel liberandum? The human will: free or in need of being freed?le This is the question which John Calvin sought to answer within the context of his polemical struggles. His answer can be captured in the following manner. At creation the human will was liberum. It was free from any defect; it was also free to choose either good or evil, obedience to God or rebellion against God. Therefore, in the state of integrity the will had no need of being liberated. After the fall into sin, the human will was no longer free to choose what is truly good in the sight of God. Instead, it became enslaved to its own evil desires. Thus, the will changed from liberumto liberandum. Yet, it must also be affirmed that the fallen will was still free from external coercion and, therefore, also "free" in the sense of doing voluntarily what it does. It also remained free to pursue goals that are good in an earthly and extemal way. Nevertheless, freedom a coactu and in externis does not imply freedom ad salutem. Concerning redemption the fallen will remains liberandum. In the restoration by grace, the human will, which was liberandum,becomes liberatum through the work of Christ. The restored will is freed from bondage to sin's slavery, and it is free to serve its Liberator. However, it is not yet free from all the effects and miseries of the fall. The liberati will only enjoy libertas in perfectio when the , 't This especially came to the fore as Calvin refuted Pocquet, who taught that human beings could entirely escape the effects of sin, already in this present age. cf. p. I 02 above. 'n The Latin gerundive liberandum expresses an "obligation or necessity." Cf. Frederic M. Wheelock, Latin'- An Introductory Course Based on Ancient Authors,3rd ed. (New Yoik: Harper & Row, 1963), 112. In this context I use it with the sense of passive necessity: i.e., "needs to be liberated." 121 Liberator returns. Then, the arbitrium humanum will never be liberandum asain.but entirely and eternally liberum. APPENDIX 1 - POCQUET'S LETTER TO HIS DISCIPLESI God be praised that in these last days it has pleased Him to make known to me by His instrument the great error in which I stood, desiring to reprove and correct you, where it is written, "They shall all be taught by God" (Isa. 54:13; John 6:45). And when I presume to understand, I understand nothing. For God is my understanding, my strength, and my salvation. Even if I should want to judge you or murrnur against you, keeping a close lookout on my neighbour and not on myself, that is forbidden. For He has made the nations of the world capable of salvation. In the first place I do not understand how we are created out of nothing and how our l0 bodies will be reconstituted from extinguished ashes, while the spirit will be as clean air and dispersed as clouds, nor do I understand how I am fmade] of an earthly species, that is to say, from him who was first of all made as a living soul (God does nothing without a purpose), and how we are born from the womb of our mother earth, where all is woe. For this reason Job said (5:18f.), "God wounds and then heals; He brings one to hell and then 15 retrieves; He delivers from six tribulations and no evil will touch you on the seventh." For it was my living soul that so presumed to speak. But thanks to God, by this spirit of renewal I am raised from death and revived with Christ, and I am dead to the works of the law, and I am called with the angels and made a son of God and an inheritor of immortality and a member of Christ, and our bodies [are made] temples of the Holy 20 Spirit, and our souls the images and secret dwelling places of divinity. And this horrible beast, the serpent, called the devil, to whom we were obligated and serfs and from whom it was impossible for us to free ourselves, this then was pride or avarice or the world, which has already come to an end by fire, as I shall explain more clearly. This same is true of what is written about the transfiguration, where Jesus Christ was 25 in the middle of Moses and Elijah. Moses was the ancient law, hard and unbearable. Jesus Christ was the law, gentle, gracious, tractable. Elijah was the last, meaning the end of the world, as he demonstrated by his departure in his fiery chariot, full of flames, called "double spirit," and by which we are consummated outside of this earthly world. And nevertheless, as Jesus Christ said through Saint John, "I see a new heaven and a new 30 earth." This was the world, which has already ended, not so entirely as not to be present, but the world has ended for those who are in Christ and who no longer live according to the flesh. For the wisdom of the flesh is dead and full of death. For it is written, "l have been made every man." Since He has been made every man by taking on human nature and is dead, can He still die here below? It would be a grave 35 mistake to believe so. For He is dead and raised, and it is necessary to believe that He has not left any of His members without being dead and also raised with Him. Thus for this reason it is written that "we are all members of Christ.,, It is also written, "Bear one another's weaknesses." For if we criticize each other, we will be siding with the serpent, called "the devil," accusing believers by constantly 40 assuming them to be acting in pride. But God elevates the small and the humble and ' The only extant record of Pocquet's letter is found in chapter 23 of Calvin's Against Libertines. There Calvin inserts it, section by section, interspersed with hi; own commentary on the letter. In this appendix, in order to increase the readability, I have left out the commentury und simply reprinted the letter in its entirety. Line numbers have been added for ease ofreference. 123 humbles the great and the proud. For this reason those who are in Christ, who have the wisdom of faith, recognize the works of God everywhere and are astonished at nothing, benefiting from everything, realizingthat everything is fcaused by] the will anc providence of God. 45 For it is written, "Everything is pure to the pure" (Titus I :15). And whoever is purified by faith is totally acceptable to God. But he must be careful not to be ruined by his weak brother. For this reason it is written, 'ol-ove your neighbour and be joined to him by faith, without wishing to be avenged." For whoever wants to be avenged will find the vengeance of the Lord who will remember his sins. For this reason it is said, 50 "Forgive your neighbour who harms you. And when you pray, your sins will be forgiven you." For a man must not make his petition in anger. For whom can he ask for forgiveness if he has no mercy on men like himself, if he is still in the flesh, not yet having memory of the last days, for he would continue to be the enemy, i.e., the devil, not having memory of the new covenant that shows him how to abstain from quarrelling and 55 contention, that abolishes all sin, and teaches him not to be concerned for his neighbor's ignorance? For the Lord has said, "I wound and heal; I put to death and make alive." Hence trust my words and be renewed in the renewal of your minds in order to understand the will of God, not retuming evil for evil, but overcoming evil with good. For if you love your neighbour, you fulfill the law. The love of neighbour causes no evil. 60 For it is the fulfilment of the law. That is why it was written that there would come forth one who would deliver from the bondage of Jacob, saying, "l will give them a new covenant when I remove their sins" (Jer. 31:33). For it is written that "God has consigned all men to disobedience in order to be merciful to all" (Rom. ll:32). "For His judgments are unsearchable" [v. 33]. "For 65 from Him and in Him and by Him are all things done" (Rom. I 1:36). Moses says (Exod. 33:19), "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy." Consequently the Lord is merciful when it pleases Him and hardens when it pleases Him. Jesus also says, "Without me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). "And no one can come to Me unless it is given to Him by my Father" (John 6:44). 70 Isn't this the infallible truth, seeing who has spoken it? who, then, wants to contradict His Word? Is it not written that God knew, before He even created us, whether we would be bad or good? and knew everything present and to come? It is written, "You shall not be adulterers of the Word, as some have." And such was I. But all is forgiven. For it is written, "Abstain from unchastity so that you might enjoy 75 your vessel in holiness and honor" (1 Thess.4:3f). For since we are dead to the law through the body of Christ in order that we might beflong] to another, who has been raised from the dead so that we might bear fruit to the living God (Rom. 7:4), you are hence no longer in the flesh. The wisdom of the flesh is God's enemy and does not know how to please God (Rom. 8:7f). 80 Now if the Spirit of Christ is not in you, how can you be in Him? But if He is, though the body is dead because of sin, the spiiit lives because ofjustification. That is to say, He has justified us since we are all of the same Spirit. Hence, the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus Christ from the dead lives in you. For He died for all and, as it is said, He became every man and "died for all that those who live might no longer live for themselves but 85 for Him who died for all and was raised for all" (II Cor. 5:15). 124 For this reason "we now no longer regard anyone according to the flesh, and even though we knew Christ according to the flesh, we now no longer regard Him thus, because we are reigning and have been made new creatures in Christ" (II Cor. 5:l6f). "Therefore the old and sterile have passed away, because all things have become 90 renewed, and all these things are from God who has reconciled us to Himself through Christ. For God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their sin against them." Thus it is written, "Whoever sees sin, sin remains in him, and the truth is not in him" (John 9:41). And a little farther over still again: "Whoever fails in one [point], fails in all [the law]" (James 2:10). 95 But when you behold God you no longer see all these things. For sin does not dwell in God, yet He makes all things and everything He makes is good, and man's knowledge is folly to God. Will you thus behold in man, that is to say in the flesh, what is not in God? Indeed they are not [in God]. And because everything that is outside of God is nothing, the Scripture says that all 100 that we do or know to do is vanity. Thus it is said, "Deny yourself, and take up My cross, and follow Me. Whoever walks with Me is not in darkness but walks in light" (John 8:12). Remember the time that the disciple asked Elijah for a double fportion of] spirit. Such was the case when Jesus Christ said to His apostles, "I yet have something to give 105 you, but now you are not able to bear it" (John 16:12). "But when the Spirit of truth comes, He will teach you the whole truth. For He will not speak of Himielf but He will speak what He has heard and will declare to you the things that are to come; He will clarify Me. For He will take what is Mine and declare it to you, so that you will be as incorruptible as I. Moreover, I shall not speak again until that time comes." 1 10 Behold how God planted the luxurious garden and then set man in the midst of it to cultivate and keep it. And when God had created him he fell asleep, and God took one of his ribs and created woman from it to accompany man, then He ruid to them, "Be fruitful and multiply on the earth." That is the first law that God ordained, which was called "the law of nature." I 15 Now understand how Saint John shows us in his Apocalypse seven time periods, as in the seven candlesticks and seven stars [Rev. l:72,16,201, and how the fifth will plunge us into darkness, saying that the first was holy and the last of the same solemnitv as the first. Now we are in the last time, which is the true bond, made in the tree of the cross, 120 which we call "marriage," and which was accordingly asleep and whose side was opened in order to replace the rib, or the woman, that is, the church and the union of all human nature, and to be made all one member, of which Jesus Christ is the head. For this reason let us leave to [the] mortal what is mortal and comrptible. For the kingdom and excellence of our soul does not lie here below unless soiled and tainted. 125 Let us consider then how the church was made and formed and that it was prefigured in Adam and Eve. Consequently Jesus Christ is the Bridegroom and we are the bride. As it is written in the Song of songs, "come my sister and my bride.,, But we continue in sin unless we enter the garden of paradise where it is still forbidden to want to do anything but to let ourselves be tiA Uy the will of God, otherwise 130 we shall not be divested of that old serpent, which is our first father Adam, and we will see sin as he and his wife saw it, though they thought they were covering their nakedness. t2s They had not seen their sin, but when they saw sin, sin was necessarily imputed to them and everything was changed. For their happiness was changed into labor and misery, and the earth and all that it produces was cursed. Man was changed into vanity. 135 Consequently, let us leave the old Adam, i.e., our living soul, and let us come to higher things, i.e., the spirit. For it was said of Adam that he would die. And he is dead. Now we are vivified with the second Adam, who is Christ, no longer seeing sin, since it is dead. For grace was made from sin by our Father in Jesus Christ. Whence then comes this fear and terror of death and of being cast into hell? In reality one can set it aside as 140 an enor; one can make fun of it as a vain thought. For when Jesus Christ descended from heaven into the earth - where for some He is still confined - He completely vanquished the devils, who were the world, and who were astonished that this King was so glorious, and sending His light into the darkness and its infernal jaws He said, "Lift up your heads, O gates! etc." For as I have already said 145 before, He takes us there and brings us back. But He is always with us. Indeed we cannot be without Him, nor He without us. For as I have said, He married us on the cross and has been so attached that He neither can nor would want to separate Himself from us, because of the great love He has for us. And this love profits in everything without seeking its profit, and it exists not for 150 itself but for all; it prays for its enemies and even gives them what they lack and covers a multitude of sins without seeing sin. For it has destroyed everlthing by the highest commandment which Christ said and decreed, viz.,o'Love one another as I have love you. For I have not come for Myself but for all of you who believe in Me. And I will be in you and you in Me. As My Father and I are one, so shall you and I be one. You know 155 that I have come from the Father and have come into the world. But I am leaving the world and am going to the Father again. Nevertheless I am not alone. For My Father is with me. I have said these things to you that you might have peace with one another, that is to say, in Me. In the world you have tribulation. Have confidence, I have overcome the world." But those who are in the flesh cannot see God. For it is written, "Flesh and 160 blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Then it is said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." APPENDIX 2 - LIBERTAS EXTERNIS 'N I herewith reject and condemn as sheer error all doctrines which glorify our free will, as diametrically contrary to the help and grace of our Savior Jesus Christ. Outside of Christ death and sin are our masters and the devil is our god and lord, and there is no power or ability, no cleverness or reason, with which we can prepare ourselves for righteousness and life or seek after it. on the contrary, we must remain the dupes and captives of sin and the property of the devil to do and to think what pleases them and what is contrary to God and his commandments. Luther's confession Concerning Christ's Supper (I52ql Concerning free will they [the Lutheran churches] teach that the human will has some freedom for producing civil righteousness and for choosing things subject to reason. Augsburg Confession (I J3q2 At first glance it appears that these two confessions - both from the Lutheran tradition - disagree with each other. In his own personal confession Martin Luther resolutely rejects any freedom of the will whatsoever, outside of the grace of Jesus Christ. However, in the Augsburg Confession, written by Philip Melanchthon, a small measure of freedom is granted to the will. There even appears to be a glimmer of optimism that if people use their free will well, they can produce a certain kind of righteousness. Was Melanchthon at variance with Luther on this point of doctrine? Or, considering that Melanchthon openly consulted with Luther as he wrote the Augsburg Confession, did Luther contradict himself within the span of two years? Before pursuing these speculations any further, the larger context of these confessional statements should be examined. I herewith reject and condemn as sheer error all doctrines which glorify our free will, as diametrically contrary to the help and grace of our Savior Jesus Christ. outside of Christ death and sin are our masters and the devil ' Robert H. Fischer and Helmut T. Lehmann, eds. Luther's lVort is our god and lord, and there is no power or ability, no cleverness or reason, with which we can prepare ourselves for righteousness and life or seek after it. on the contrary, we must remain the dupes and captives of sin and the property of the devil to do and to think what pleases them and what is contrary to God and his commandments. Thus I condemn also both the new pelagians and the old who will not admit original sin to be sin, but make it an infirmity or defect. But since death has passed to all men, original sin must be not merely an infirmity but enormous sin, as St. Paul says, "The ..Sin wages of sin is death" [Rom. aiq, and again, is the sting of death" [l cor. 15:56]. So also David ruyrin psalir 5l "Behold, [:5], I was conceived in sin, and in sin did my mother bear me.,, He does not ,.I-I say, " My mother conceived me with sir1,'but, myself-I was conceived in sin, and in sin did my mother bear me,', i.e. in my mother,s womb I have grown from sinful seed, as the Hebrew text sienifies. Lut her's C onfe s s i on C onc erning C hr i s t's Suppe 13 concerning free will they teach that the human will has some freedom for producing civil righteousness and for choosing things subject to reason. However, it does not have the power to produ-e the righteousness of God or spiritual righteousness ,,those without the Holy Spirit, becaluse who are natural do not receive the gifts of God's Holy Spirit,, [1 cor. 2:14]. But this righteousness is worked in the heart when tire uoiy Spirit is received through the word. In Book rrr of Hypognosticon Augustine says this in just so many words: "we confess that all human beinls have a free will that possesses the judgment of reason. It does not .nubl. them, without God, to begin - much less complete - anything that pertains to God, but only perform .good to the good or evil deeds of this tr". riy deeds' I mean those that arise from the good in nature, that is, the will to labor in the field, to eat and drink, to have a friend, to wear ciothes, to build a house, to marry, to raise cattle, to learn various useful skilis, or to do whatever good pertains to this life. None of these exists without divine direction; indeed, from him and through him they have come into being and exist. However, by 'evil deeds' I mean the will to worship an idollto commit murder, pelagians etc." They condemn the and others who teach that without the Holy Spirit by the powers of nature alone, we are able to love God above all things and can ilso keep the commandments of God "according to the substance of the acts." Although nature can in some measure produce external works - for it can keep the hands from committing theft or murder - nevertheless it cannot produce internal movements, such as fear of God,.trust in God, patience, etc. Augsburg Confession, Articte I# 'Fischer, Luther's Works Vol. 37,362_263. a As found in The Book of Concord.5l.53. t28 What immediately comes to light is that both confessions take aim atexactly the same heresy: Pelagianism. Pelagius taught that fallen human beings have the freedom to choose either good or evil, and if they choose for the good, they can fulfill God,s commandments and so live righteously before him. Using different expressions, but with equal conviction, both confessions reject this heresy. Moreover, concerning things pertaining to God and to eternal redemption, neither confession allows room for any positive contribution on the part of the human will. Salvation, from start to finish, is the gracious work of Christ through the Holy Spirit. on this fundamental truth of the gospel Melanchthon and Luther are in complete agreement. Nevertheless, the fact remains that in the Augsburg Confession Melanchthon speaks of a liberty of the fallen will in external things, the libertas in externis,while Luther is silent on the matter. of course, this does not mean ipso facto that Luther and Melanchthon disagree, but it does raise the interesting question: why does Melanchthon mention the libertas in externis when Luther does not? Wilhelm Maurer suggests that this should be attributed to Melanchthon's relatively open attitude to philosophical inquiry'5 Luther is well ,,the known for his blunt rejection of reason as devil,s whore.,,6 comparatively speaking, Melanchthon was more willing to listen to what human reason might discover' Maurer argues' therefore, that since philosophers are always interested in the human pursuit of moral goodness Melanchthon includes the libertas in externisin the Augsburg Confession. Maurer, Historical Commentary on the Augsburg Confessior (philadelphia: Fortress press, , nrur.Yll:t 6 concerning this blunt expression see Philip S. watson, An Interpretation oJ the Theolog", o/ Martin Luther (London: Epworth press, 1947). g7_gg. 129 Although Maurer may be partly correct in his observations, there is one flaw in his argument' What he fails to mention is the whole distinction between extemal and spiritual affairs is also affirmed by Luther in language not entirely dissimilar to the Augsburg confession In his comments on psalm 90, Luther writes: In temporal and extemal affairs, which concern nourishment and bodily needs, the human being is clever, intelligent, and up to a point industrious, but in spiritual and divine matters, which concern tlh. ,oul', salvation, the human being is like a pillar of salt, like Lot's wife, indeed like a block of wood or a stone, like a lifeless statue, which needs neither eyes nor mouth, neither sense nor heart, inasmuch as this human being neither sees nor recognizes the dreadful, fierce wrath of God against sin and death but instead abides in a sense of security willingly and knowingly and as a result runs into a thousand dangers and finally into eternal death and damnation.T Thus, also on the libertas in externis, there is no real disagreement between Melanchthon and Luther' Rather, it is only that on certain occasions these reformers found it beneficial to broach the topic while at other times it did not serve their purposes. This, in tum, prompts the question: when is it useful to employ the doctrine of the libertas in externis? The Formula of Concord, writtena little less than fifty years after the Augsburg Confession, suggests at least one appropriate occasion. The followins passage is taken from the second article of the Epitome: Therefore, we reject and condemn all the following errors as contrary to the guiding principle of God's Word: 1' The mad invention of the philosophers who are called Stoics, as well as the Manichaeans, who taught that everything that happens has to happen so and iust could not happen in any other wiy, and that people do everything that they do, even in external things,under coercion and that they are coerced to do evil works and deeds, iuch as fornication, robbery, murder, thievery, and the like.8 ' As quoted in The Book of Concord,54g. 8 quoted As in The Book of Concord,492; emphasis mine. 130 In short, then, whenever a deterministic philosophy or theology rears its fatalistic head, the affirmation of the libertas in externis can be used to affirm that humans are still human, even after the fall. They have wills, and their wills can choose and desire. The fallen will can even choose and desire things that are extemally and temporally good. The heathen may even, and often do, aspire to moral virtue and civil good.e They do so of their own will, that is to say, voluntarily. For as Luther aptly said, '.If the will is forced, it is not a will fvoluntasf, but a nill fnoluntasl.',to However, does the libertqs in externis not open the door ever so slightly, albeit unwittingly, to synergism? For if, as the Augsburg Confessionstates, the fallen will can even produce "civil righteousness,"ll might this civil righteousness not serve as a stepping stone to saving righteousness? Furtherrnore, if civil good can bring people closer to etemal bliss, does that not imply that both the human and the divine have a role to play in the work of salvation? The answer to all these questions must be a resounding "No!" Luther and Melanchthon both set a deep, wide chasm between external good and etemal good. In fact, the chasm is so deep and so wide that even with a most valiant and virtuous exertion of the will, no human being can even begin to build a bridge across it. The Augsburg Confession declares: the libertas in externis "does not enable them, without God, to begin - much less complete - any'thing that pertains to God.,,r2 If the gap is to be spanned between sinners and salvation, the bridge must be sought and found, only and entirely, in Jesus Christ. ' This very thought can u^e rgun! in the Augsburg Interim. See Robert Kolb and James A. Nestingen, sources and Contexts of the Book of Concord (Minneaporis: Fortress press, 2001), 149. r0 As quoted in Sources ancl Contexts,207 . t1 The Book ofConcord, 51. t2 The Book of Concord, 51. 131 This Lutheran formulation of the libertas in externis is similar to the Reformed confession of the light of nature, as it is found, for instance, in the Canons of Dort: To be sure, there is left in man after the fall, some light of nature, whereby he retains some notions about God, about natural things, and about the difference between what is honourable and shameful, and show some regard for virtue and outward order. But so far is he from arriving at the saving knowledge of God and true conversion through this light &nature that he does.not even use it properly in natural and civil matters. Rather, whatever this light may be, man wholly pollutes it in various ways and suppresses it by his wickedness. In doing so, he renders himselfwithout excuse before God. Chapter III/IV, Article lt3 Like the Augsburg Confession,the Canons of Dort affirm that even after the fall, human beings are still human; they can even be humane. However, lest this be taken to ..extol our free will" - to the use the words of Luther - the Canons immediately add that this light does not help people along the path to salvation. Rather, it only serves to render them inexcusable, since they even cast the dark shadow of their comrption over this last remaining light of nature. one difference, of emphasis only, between the Augsburg Confession and, the Canons o.f Dort is that while the latter focuses more on the intellect ("notions,, and ,.saving knowledge"), the former pays particular attention to the will. Therefore, when dealing with the doctrine of the human will the Augsburg Confession's article on the libertas in externis serves as a helpful complement to the Canons of Dort,which simply speak of "some regard for virtue and outward order.', r3 Joel R' Beeke and Sinclair B. Ferguson, Reformed Confessions Harmonized (Grand Books, 1999),50-51. Rapids: Baker BIBLIOGRAPHY Augustijn, C' De Godsdienstgesprekken tussen Rooms-Katholieken en protestanrcn vqn 1538 tot l54l.Haarlem: Erven F. Bohn, 1967. Augustine. Confessions. The Fathers of the Church, no.2L Translated by york: Vernon J. Bourke. New Fathers of the Church, 1953. Faith, Hope and Charity. The Fathers of the Church, no.2. Translated by Bernard peebles. york: M. New CIMA publishing , 1947. Gr(tce and Free Will. The Fathers of the Church, no. 59. Translated by Robert P. Russell. washington: catholic University of America press, 196g. On Nature and Grace. The Fathers of the Church, no. 86. Translated by John A' Mourant and William J. 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